South Korea Calls on Iran to Release its Detained Tanker

On Monday, South Korea called on Iran to immediately release the oil tanker it seized.

The navy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps invaded an oil tanker flying the South Korean flag.

South Korea announced sending an anti-piracy unit to the Gulf after the incident to ensure the safety of its ships.

"The Ministry of Defense immediately sent the Cheonghai unit to waters near the Strait of Hormuz shortly after receiving a report about Iran's seizure of a merchant ship," the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

On its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul mentioned that the Iranian authorities have detained a South Korean chemical tanker in waters off Oman and demanded its immediate release.

The ministry added, in a statement, that South Korean forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz have been sent to the region.

Iranian official media quoted unidentified sources saying that the ship was taken to Iranian territorial waters.

The sources claimed that one of the reasons for the arrest of this ship was "Causing environmental and chemical pollution" in the Gulf waters.

The satellites showed the oil tanker stopped off the port of "Bandar Abbas" this afternoon, without any explanation.

Meanwhile, the Center for Maritime Trade Operations in Britain spoke of an overlap that occurred between a merchant ship and the Iranian authorities.

This is not the first time that Iran has seized oil tankers, in a flagrant threat to international shipping routes.