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The UK has told all British ships to avoid using the Strait of Hormuz during an "interim period" after the seizure of Iran a tanker flying the British flag.
The British government also summoned Saturday the Iranian chargé d'affaires in London about the incident shortly after Jeremy Hunt, British Foreign Secretary, said the seizure said "worrying signs that Iran might choose a dangerous path of illegal and destabilizing behavior".
"Our reaction will be considered, but robust," Hunt wrote on Twitter, adding that the UK "will guarantee the safety of our shipments."
The guards of the Islamic Revolution said Friday that it seized the Stena Imperoa, a British-flagged, Swedish-owned vessel, has violated the "international maritime rules" in the Strait, constituting a turning point for about one-third of the world's seaborne oil.
The British owner of a second tanker, the Liberian-flagged Mesdar, declared that he had been temporarily boarded by armed personnel, but that he was free to depart and that all crews were "safe".
The incidents occurred just hours after a Gibraltar court announced a 30-day extension of the detention of an Iranian oil tanker seized two weeks ago as part of an operation backed by the British Royal Marines, alleging non-compliance with the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Syria.
British Secretary of State James Brokenshire called the tanker's seizure "utterly intolerable," but added that London was still seeking diplomatic ties with Tehran after the incident.
"The actions of the Iranians are totally unacceptable, it is so important to maintain this free navigation in the Gulf," said the Housing Secretary on BBC radio.
"We want this matter to be solved diplomatically, the Iranians must release this ship as soon as possible".
Neave Barker, of the Al Jazeera agency, said in London that the impact of foreclosures on the British oil industry was still unclear.
"The repercussions on British navigation [or] on the economy of the oil industry has not yet been addressed, "added that the UK hoped that the problem would be resolved quickly.
Referring to the Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar, Barker said that even though Hunt "hinted that it was not as simple as letting Grace 1 go, hoping Iran would follow suit" [Hunt] stated that he hoped that it would not affect British ships any further. "
Inquiry on Iran
Iranian officials announced on Saturday that they had opened an investigation into the Stena Impero, claiming that it had collided with a fishing boat off the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran near the anchorage. tanker.
The Swedish tanker "has 23 crew members and they are all on board," said Allah-Morad Afifipoor, managing director of the port and maritime authority of Hormozgan province, quoted by the Fars news agency.
As a result of the collision, the persons on board the fishing vessel "contacted the British vessel but received no reply", they informed the Hormozgan Port and Maritime Bound Office in accordance with the procedures. legal, "said Afifipoor.
He added that experts from the port and maritime authorities of Hormozgan province had launched a probe ito the cause of the accident.
Tanker Tracking Service Maritime traffic showed that the Stena Impero had reported its last location near the island of Larak at 21:00 (16:30 GMT).
Dorsa Jabbari, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said Iran's tanker seizure had occurred "as a result of a series of events …"[and was] not just a random seizure of a British tanker, "according to a statement from the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
She added that the IRGC had stated in a statement that it seized the vessel after violating several maritime laws.
"They [the Revolutionary Guards] say it [the vessel] was traveling in the wrong maritime direction … that they [its crew] had turned off all their tracking devices and they did not respond to any attempts to contact them. That's why this ship is now in Bandar Abba, "explained Jabbari.
Increasing conviction
The seizure prompted the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, a Gulf country home to the US Fifth Fleet, to issue a statement Saturday condemning the action and urging Iran to end its "irresponsible" actions.
Also Saturday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed concerns about Iran's decision, saying it had hampered de-escalation efforts in the region.
"We have learned with deep concern the seizure of a British ship by Iranian forces," the ministry said in a statement.
"We strongly condemn it and express our total solidarity with the United Kingdom," reads the statement.
In addition, the German Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter: "This is an unjustifiable interference in commercial shipping which is dangerously aggravating an already tense situation".
Tensions in the Gulf have increased in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump canceled air raids against Iran at the last minute of June, after Iranian forces shot down a drone and accused Iran of several attacks.
The latest incidents also took place while Trump and US authorities insisted Thursday, despite Tehran's denial, that the US military had shot down an Iranian drone that was threatening an American ship in the USSR strait. ; Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, The rival of Tehran, said he would again welcome US troops on his soil to strengthen regional security.
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