Iran says Revolutionary Guards seized ship for legal reasons

DUBAI (Reuters) - Naval units from Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seized a cargo ship in the Gulf on Tuesday for legal reasons, an IRGC source was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA. The report, which described the ship as "an American cargo vessel with a Marshall Islands flag", said there were 34 crew members on board who were mostly Europeans. The source told IRNA the incident was a civil matter with no military or political dimension. The IRGC is Iran's elite military force and operates its own land, naval and air forces under a separate command chain from the regular armed forces. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency earlier said the ship was seized after a court order was issued for its confiscation, referring to what it called financial differences between Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization and the vessel's owner. It did not identify the owner. (Reporting by Sam Wilkin, Editing by William Maclean and Janet Lawrence)