Geneva/London - Britain denounced the
Iranian seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf as a
"hostile act" on Saturday, rejecting Tehran's explanation that
it had seized the vessel because it had been involved in an
accident.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards posted a video online showing
speedboats pulling up alongside the Stena Impero tanker, its
name clearly visible.
Troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns rappelled
to its deck from a helicopter, the same tactics used by British
Royal Marines to seize an Iranian tanker off the coast of
Gibraltar two weeks ago.
Friday's action in the global oil trade's most important
waterway has been viewed in the West as a major escalation after
three months of confrontation that has already taken Iran and
the United States to the brink of war.
It follows weeks of threats from Tehran to retaliate for
Britain's seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of
violating sanctions on Syria.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Iranreleases a footage of the moment that #IRGC forces siezed #British tanker Stena Impero. pic.twitter.com/uWOgtMdpcK
— Abas Aslani (@AbasAslani)
British Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt called the incident
a "hostile act". Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he had
expressed "extreme disappointment" by phone to his Iranian
counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Britain also summoned the
Iranian charge d'affaires in London.
A spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards,
Brigadier-General Ramezan Sharif, said Tehran had seized the
ship in the Strait of Hormuz despite the "resistance and
interference" of a British warship which had been escorting it.
No British warship was visible in the video posted by the
Guards.
Iran's Fars news agency said the Guards had taken control of
the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian
fishing boat whose distress call it ignored.
The vessel, carrying no cargo, was taken to the Iranian port
of Bandar Abbas. It would remain there with its 23 crew -- 18 of
them Indians -- while the accident was investigated, Iranian
news agencies quoted the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation
in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour, as saying.
Zarif told Britain's Hunt that the ship must go through a
legal process before it could be released, Iran's ISNA news
agency reported.
The strait, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, is the
sole outlet for exports of most Middle Eastern oil, and the
seizure sent oil prices sharply higher. The United States, which
tightened sanctions against Iran in May with the aim of halting
its oil exports altogether, has been warning for months of an
Iranian threat to shipping in the strait.
Another oil tanker, the Mesdar, was also boarded by Iranian
personnel on Friday and temporarily forced to divert towards
Iran, but later was allowed to continue on its route through the
strait. On Saturday Algeria's APS news agency said the Mesdar
was owned by Algeria's state oil company Sonatrach.
France, Germany and the European Union joined Britain in
condemning the seizure.
The three big European countries are signatories to a 2015
nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that Washington
undermined by quitting last year, setting Iran's already fragile
relations with the West on a downward spiral.
Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work in
return for lifting sanctions. The European countries opposed the
Trump administration's decision to abandon the agreement last
year, but have so far failed to fulfil promises to Iran of
providing alternative means for it to access world trade.
"Just spoke to ... Zarif and expressed extreme
disappointment that having assured me last Saturday Iran wanted
to de-escalate situation, they have behaved in the opposite
way," tweeted British Foreign Secretary Hunt. "This has to be
about actions not words if we are to find a way through."
Earlier he said London's reaction would be "considered but
robust", and it would ensure the safety of its shipping.
On Friday, Hunt said the solution would be found via
diplomacy and London was "not looking at military options."
Britain's government said it had advised British shipping to
stay out of the Hormuz area for an interim period.
The past three months of escalation have seen the United
States and Iran come as close as ever to direct armed conflict.
In June, Tehran shot down a U.S. drone and Trump ordered
retaliatory air strikes, only to call them off just minutes
before impact.
In New Delhi, India's foreign ministry said it was actively
seeking the release of its nationals among the crew.
Operator Stena Bulk said on Friday the tanker had been "in
full compliance with all navigation and international
regulations". On Saturday it said it was preparing a request to
visit the crew.
The vessel had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia and
suddenly changed course after passing through the strait.
The United States has blamed Iran for a series of attacks on
shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran rejects the
allegations. Washington also said it had this week downed an
Iranian drone near where the Stena Impero was seized.
The United States is sending military personnel and
resources to Saudi Arabia for the first time since the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003.