Iran detained two oil tankers in the Gulf waters, arrested their crews, and charged them with fuel smuggling, according to what state television announced on Friday.

The television quoted the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Muhammad Sharif Shirali, as saying, “The naval forces of the Revolutionary Guard detained two ships during the past two days.”

He added, "The two confiscated tankers... flew the flags of Panama and Tanzania and were transporting more than 1.5 million liters of Iranian oil and gas."

He said, "The Revolutionary Guard accompanied the two ships to the port (city) of Mahshahr" in the southwest of the country, noting that 37 people from the two crews were arrested and handed over to the judicial authorities in the Iranian city.

In recent weeks, the US military has strengthened its presence in the Gulf waters after accusing Iran of detaining or attempting to intercept ships in this vital corridor.

On July 6, the US Navy said that the Revolutionary Guard confiscated a commercial ship in the Gulf the day after Iranian forces accused it of two similar attempts off the coast of the Sultanate of Oman.

Iran later said that the ship it intercepted in Gulf waters was transporting "more than half a million smuggled fuel."