Iranian officer tells tanker’s crew: ‘You obey, you will be safe’
LONDON — In an audio recording released Sunday, a British naval officer insists that a British-flagged oil tanker must be allowed to sail through the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian paramilitary forces demand that the vessel change course before commandeering it.
The audio, released by maritime security risk firm Dryad Global, shows how the British navy was unable to prevent the ship’s seizure Friday by Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces. The seizure has prompted condemnation from Britain and its European allies as they continue to call for a de-escalation of tensions in the critical waterway.
The free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is of international importance because one-fifth of all global crude exports pass through the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman.
In the recording, an Iranian officer can be heard telling the Stena Impero to change course, saying: “You obey, you will be safe.”
“Alter your course to 360 degrees immediately, over,” the officer says, before saying the ship is wanted for security reasons.
A British naval officer from the Montrose frigate that was patrolling the area around the Strait of Hormuz is heard telling the Stena Impero, which had a crew of 23 on board, that its passage must be allowed. British officials say the Montrose was roughly 60 minutes from the scene when the Iranians took control of the tanker, too far away to intervene effectively.
“Sir, I reiterate that as you are conducting transit passage in a recognized international strait, under international law your passage must not be impaired, intruded, obstructed or hampered,” the British officer says.
The British officer then tells an Iranian patrol boat: “Please confirm that you are not intending to violate international law by unlawfully attempting to board the MV Stena.”
Iranian officials say the seizure of the British oil tanker was a justified response to Britain’s role in impounding a supertanker carrying Iranian oil two weeks earlier off the coast of Gibraltar, a British territory in southern Spain.
Friday’s seizure came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran stemming from President Trump’s decision last year to pull the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers and reinstate sweeping sanctions.
The U.S. has also expanded its military presence in the region, while Iran has begun openly exceeding the uranium enrichment levels set in the nuclear accord to try to pressure Europe into alleviating the pain caused by the sanctions.
European nations, which are trying to save the nuclear deal and keep Iran from isolation, have tried to come up with ways to keep trading with Iran but have run into Trump’s sanctions. British officials say they are seeking a diplomatic solution.
The seizure of the tanker is proving popular in Iran.
In Tehran, about 160 lawmakers issued a joint statement Sunday praising the interception of the vessel.