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A recording of radio exchanges between a Royal Navy frigate and Iranian Armed Forces ships was recorded moments before the seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf.
In the recording, one can hear what one thinks is an Iranian ship telling HMS Montrose that he wants to inspect the tanker for safety reasons.
The Impero Stena was embarked by the Iranian authorities on Friday.
The Foreign Secretary urged Iran to cancel the "illegal" seizure of the tanker.
In the radio recording obtained by the British maritime safety company Dryad Global, we can hear the Iranian ship telling a ship – which is believed to be the Stena Impero – to change course by saying: "If you obey, you you will be safe. "
HMS Montrose then identifies and says to Stena Impero: "When you make a transit pbad in a recognized international strait, your right of way shall not be altered, obstructed, blocked or interfered with."
The frigate then asks the Iranian ship to confirm that it does not "intend to violate international law" by attempting to board the tanker.
Iran released Friday footage of the capture of Stena Impero.
What happened?
The Stena Impero was seized Friday by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on a major shipping lane in the Gulf.
Tehran said the ship "violates international maritime rules".
Images appeared Saturday to show the moment when the tanker was raided.
It was published by the Fars news agency, affiliated with Revolutionary Guards.
It shows masked forces laying strings on the ship from a helicopter after it has been circled by high speed ships.
HMS Montrose was alerted and ran to intervene, as he did – with success – with another British flagged tanker a little over a week ago.
But this time it was too far to prevent the seizure of Stena Impero – the tanker was already in Iranian waters.
The Iranian state-run IRNA news agency IRNA said the oil tanker was captured after hitting a fishing boat and did not respond to calls from smaller boats.
But Mr Hunt said he was seized in Omani waters in "flagrant violation of international law" and then forced to visit Iran.
The Swedish owner of Stena Impero, Stena Bulk, said that she had fully complied with the regulations and that she was in international waters at the time.
The crew members, of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino origin, were in good health.
Another United Kingdom-flagged oil tanker, the MV Mesdar, was also attacked by armed guards the same day but was released.
This took place after the Royal Marines helped seize the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 off Gibraltar earlier this month, citing evidence that it was carrying oil to Syria in violation of sanctions imposed by the oil company. 39; EU.
Iran described the incident as "piracy," but Hunt said Grace 1 was legally detained in Gibraltar waters and "totally legal."
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On Saturday, British ministers held an emergency meeting of Cobra and a senior Iranian diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office in London.
Subsequently, Hunt said MPs would be notified on Monday of the measures to be taken by the government, adding that the level of threat had been raised to the highest level of alert.
"Our priority is to find a way to defuse the situation," he said.
Speaking after a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Mr Hunt said Iran considered that it was "an irreproachable situation" as a result of the holding of an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar.
But he said "nothing could be further from the truth".
The owners of Stena Impero stated that they wanted the 23 crew members of the port of Bandar Abbas to have access to the port, which would be in good health.
A spokeswoman for the British government said earlier that she had advised British companies to stay out of the region.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said it appeared that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were "quite ready to push this right to the brink of conflict, but without stopping a little".
What does Iran say?
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted that the United Kingdom "must cease to be an accessory to the #Terrorism of the United States".
He said that it was Iran that guaranteed the security of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
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"Unlike piracy in the Straits of Gibraltar, our action in the Persian Gulf is to respect international maritime rules," he said.
Abbasali Kadkhodaei, spokesperson for the Guardian Council's Supervisory Board, says on Twitter that "the right of retaliation is a concept recognized in international law" shortly after the announcement of the seizure of the ship.
What is the context of this?
The latest developments come as relations between Iran and the United Kingdom and the United States deteriorate.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have risen sharply since April, when the United States tightened sanctions that they had reimposed on Iran after unilaterally withdrawing from the United States. the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The United States has accused Iran of attacking tankers in the main international shipping area since May. Tehran denied all the accusations.
Friday, the United States claimed to have destroyed an Iranian drone in the Gulf.
Unlike the United States, the British government remains committed to the nuclear deal, which is slowing Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for easing sanctions tensions.
However, the UK's decision to help seize the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 off Gibraltar earlier this month has angered Iran.
On Friday, Gibraltar granted a 30-day extension to allow the authorities to continue detaining the oil tanker, suspected of carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
In retaliation for the seizure, Iran had threatened to seize a British tanker.
A week later, Iranian boats tried to prevent a British tanker from traveling to the area before being warned by a Royal Navy ship, according to the Defense Ministry. Iran has denied any attempt at seizure.
International reaction
A spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House said the latest incident on Friday was the second time in just one week that the UK was "the target of growing violence" by the United States. # 39; Iran.
And the US Central Command said it was developing a multinational maritime effort in response to the situation.
The US military said it wanted to promote maritime stability, ensure safe pbadage and defuse tensions in international waters in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and the Gulf of Oman.
The Pentagon said US troops were deployed in Saudi Arabia to defend US interests in the region against "emerging and credible threats."
France and Germany have called on the Iranian authorities to quickly release the Impero Stena.
Also calling for the release of the ship, the European Union's foreign affairs office, which represents 28 member states, expressed "deep concern" and called for "restraint to avoid further tensions".
Frank Gardner, of the BBC, said the British government was "deadlocked" because ministers do not have many options.
"What they would like is to have a strong international response, preferably through allies, possibly with the United Nations," he said.
"A predictable crisis"
The first thing to remember is that this specific line between Tehran and London is just one aspect of an already unstable situation in the Gulf.
The Trump administration's decision to break with the international nuclear deal with Iran and reapply the sanctions has an extremely damaging impact on the Iranian economy.
Iran is pushing back.
Given the extremely fragile and unstable situation in the Gulf, as well as the imperative need to strengthen the Iranian nuclear deal, was it advisable to retain the ship carrying Iranian oil off Gibraltar?
- Read more Jonathan's badysis
How is the oil tanker British?
Ships must fly the flag of a nation-state, says Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of the marine intelligence publication Lloyd's List.
They have to be registered in one country, but it does not have to be the same country as their owners, nor have a relationship with the cargo, he says. But there must be a link with the United Kingdom.
"But your definition of the United Kingdom is relative," said Mr. Meade.
The Stena Impero belongs to Sweden and has on board Indians, Russians, Latvians and Filipinos.
But it's the British flag that has a symbolic importance, he says. "Historically, this means that the UK must protect the ship."
"The United Kingdom has political responsibilities towards everything that is reported, and that is why it's much more serious than it just happened to be a British captain aboard . "
He stressed that while this was a political problem, its impact on trade in the region had been minimal.
But he warns that if the international community begins to consider the Strait of Hormuz as a dangerous place, it could create a "very different" scenario.
Very volatile
The seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in Omani waters, empty and entering a Saudi port, marks a serious escalation in a whole catalog of recent incidents in the Gulf.
This is due to the mysterious extraction of tankers, the destruction of US and Iranian UAVs and the imminent capture of another British flag oil tanker just days ago.
Britain wants its answer to be two things: measured and multinational.
The government is trying to make Iran understand that this action is unacceptable, not only for the United Kingdom, but for the rest of the world, but not so strong that it ends up being part of a preventable US military strike.
This situation has become very volatile and not everyone believes in diplomacy. There are people in Washington who are fighting for a tougher line with Iran.
And there are personalities in Iran, especially in the body of the Revolutionary Guards and the security apparatus, who are quite willing to push that further, on the brink of a conflict, without however stop a little.
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