Seizure of UK flagged oil tanker by Iran: Britain to hold emergency meeting

UK Prime Minister Theresa May will hold a meeting of Britain’s emergencies committee today to discuss the seizure of the Swedish-owned Stena Impero.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt spoke to his French and German counterparts over Iran’s seizure of UK-flagged oil tanker. Later in a statement, the Foreign Secretary’s office said that Both ministers agreed with the foreign secretary that safe passage for vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is a top priority for European nations, while avoiding any possible escalation. 

An Iranian flag was hoisted atop the seized oil tanker docked in Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Sunday. The British-flagged Stena Impero was seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday in apparent retaliation for the British capture of an Iranian tanker two weeks earlier.