Hours ago, Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced that they had captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf reciprocating to Britain's act of seizing an Iranian vessel this month.
The Guards, an elite force under the command of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said they seized the Stena Impero at the request of Iranian authorities for "not following international maritime regulations," state television reported.
Northern Marine Management said the Stena Impero was heading north towards Iran. Northern Marine Group is owned by Stena AB.
On its part, Britain's foreign minister said that information about the Stena Impero is badly sought, after the tanker, which had been heading to a port in Saudi Arabia, suddenly changed course after passing through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.
Around the same time, a second tanker, the British-operated Mesdar, also made a sharp change of direction in the Gulf. Tracking data showed the British-operated and Liberian-flagged Mesdar also changed course sharply after entering the Gulf and started heading towards the Iranian coast, about 40 minutes after the Stena Impero shifted direction.
Britain's foreign minister Jeremy Hunt described the capture of both tankers as unacceptable. "I'm extremely concerned" about the seizures of both ships,” he added.
Earlier, Iran had vowed to retaliate against the seizure in Gibraltar and days later three Iranian vessels tried to block a British-owned tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian ships backed off when confronted by a British navy ship.
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