Iran seizes U.K. tanker in Gulf, ratcheting up tensions
LONDON — Iran seized a British-flagged oil tanker Friday and briefly detained a second vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying tensions in the strategic waterway that has become a flashpoint between Tehran and the West.
The seizing of the British tanker marked perhaps the most significant escalation since tensions between Iran and the West began rising in May. At that time, the U.S. announced it was dispatching an aircraft carrier and additional troops to the Middle East, citing unspecified threats posed by Iran.
Details of what took place Friday remained sketchy after Iran reported that it had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The Stena Impero was taken to an Iranian port because it was not complying with “international maritime laws and regulations,” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared.
Stena Bulk, the company that owns the seized ship, said the tanker had 23 crew members of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationalities, and there were no reports that any of them were injured.
The U.K. has featured prominently in the recent tensions with Iran. Britain’s Royal Marines assisted in the seizure of an Iranian oil supertanker on July 4 by Gibraltar. Britain said it would release the vessel if Iran could prove it was not breaching European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria.
President Donald Trump said U.S. officials would talk with Britain about the unfolding crisis.
“This only goes to show what I’m saying about Iran: Trouble, nothing but trouble,” he said.