Iran claims to have seized British oil tanker in escalation of Gulf tensions
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim to have seized a British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, which suddenly veered off course and headed into Iranian waters.
The owners of the Stena Impero, which was bound for Saudi Arabia, say they have been unable to contact the vessel and it is “heading north towards Iran”.
The ship’s owners issued a statement saying it had been “approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters.”
“We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran,” the owners, Stena Bulk, and the ship’s managers, Northern Marine, said in the statement.
The company says there are 23 personnel on board and it was approached by “unidentified small crafts and a helicopter” in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Foreign Office is “urgently” looking into the reports.
The government’s emergency committee, Cobra, is meeting in Whitehall to discuss the incident.
This latest development comes amid heightened tensions between the UK and Iran. BBC News
