The Iranian news agency announced on Saturday, September 19, 2011 that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps seized a foreign ship on charges of smuggling 757,000 liters of diesel abroad in the Persian Gulf.
According to this news agency, the IRGC has handed over the ship’s foreign crew and 7 people to the designated authorities without disclosing the nationality and identity of the ship’s crew.
Iran, which has the cheapest fuel prices in the world due to high subsidies and the devaluation of its local currency, is trying to deal with massive fuel smuggling, either by land to neighboring countries or by sea to Arab countries. Persian Gulf states.
It should be noted that in the past few months, the IRGC seized several ships on charges of fuel smuggling in the Persian Gulf.
This comes about two weeks after the US Navy announced on August 30 that it foiled an attempt by a ship belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to seize an automated (unmanned) ship belonging to the US 5th Fleet in the waters of the Persian Gulf. has done.
On the other hand, an AFP report revealed that the Pentagon is working on a new “pioneering” program that aims to increase its capabilities to monitor large areas with aerial and naval drones, as well as use artificial intelligence.
In this report, which was published on Saturday 19 September, the main goal of this program is “Iranian movements”, although Commander Tim Hawkins, the spokesperson of the 5th Fleet, called the goal “improved surveillance of the surrounding seas.”
Iran, for its part, patrols the region, has intercepted and seized foreign merchant ships and harassed US naval vessels in several tense skirmishes in recent years.
As the U.S. Navy seeks to prevent Iran from shipping weapons by sea to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and other groups, it also helps enforce sanctions against Tehran.
Artificial intelligence is reported to help detect unusual movements in data collected by the probes, which may surpass human observers, while Hawkins added that the US Navy is “using artificial intelligence to monitor Things need more attention.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
