Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has announced the seizure of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
The IRGC, which was recently designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States, is reported to have seized a vessel which reports identify as the Stena Impero in the busy waterway, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
The move may have been retaliation for the recent detention of an Iranian tanker carrying crude oil to Syria by the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, situated at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on the southern tip of Spain.
Officially, the IRGC claims that "Stena Impero was stopped while passing through the Strait of Hormuz for not observing international marine rules and regulations", according to the BBC. "After being confiscated, the tanker was led to the shore and handed over to the Ports and Maritime Organisation for legal procedures and the required investigations," the IRGC statement added.
Deputy Assistant to the U.S. President Garrett Marquis commented that he was "Aware of reports that Iranian boats seized a British oil tanker," adding that this was "The second time in just over a week the UK has been the target of escalatory violence by the Iranian regime".
Tensions between Iran and the United States have also been running high, with the Islamic Republic shooting down a U.S. drone in June, U.S. President Donald Trump narrowly averting a major strike on the country in retaliation, and an Iranian drone reportedly being shot down by a U.S. warship earlier today.
Update: A second tanker with possible U.K. ownership, the Mesdar, has reportedly broken off course for Saudi Arabia and headed north for Iranian waters.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/19/reports-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-seizes-british-tanker/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29
The IRGC, which was recently designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States, is reported to have seized a vessel which reports identify as the Stena Impero in the busy waterway, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
The move may have been retaliation for the recent detention of an Iranian tanker carrying crude oil to Syria by the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, situated at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on the southern tip of Spain.
Officially, the IRGC claims that "Stena Impero was stopped while passing through the Strait of Hormuz for not observing international marine rules and regulations", according to the BBC. "After being confiscated, the tanker was led to the shore and handed over to the Ports and Maritime Organisation for legal procedures and the required investigations," the IRGC statement added.
Deputy Assistant to the U.S. President Garrett Marquis commented that he was "Aware of reports that Iranian boats seized a British oil tanker," adding that this was "The second time in just over a week the UK has been the target of escalatory violence by the Iranian regime".
Tensions between Iran and the United States have also been running high, with the Islamic Republic shooting down a U.S. drone in June, U.S. President Donald Trump narrowly averting a major strike on the country in retaliation, and an Iranian drone reportedly being shot down by a U.S. warship earlier today.
Update: A second tanker with possible U.K. ownership, the Mesdar, has reportedly broken off course for Saudi Arabia and headed north for Iranian waters.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/07/19/reports-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-seizes-british-tanker/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+breitbart+%28Breitbart+News%29
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