SHAFAQNA- On Friday, Iran has released footage of a British-flagged oil tanker which was impounded in the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored distress calls. In a letter to UN on Saturday, UK claimed that the British-flagged tanker seized by Iran was in Omani territorial waters.
“The ship was exercising the lawful right of transit passage in an international strait as provided for under international law,” Britain’s U.N. mission wrote to the Security Council. “International law requires that the right of transit passage shall not be impeded, and therefore the Iranian action constitutes illegal interference”, reuters told.
The letter was also sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
According to thenational, Britain called on Iran to release the Stena Impero tanker and told the Security Council it was working to resolve the issue through diplomatic means.
UK-flagged Stena Impero tanker was impounded by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Friday when it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz en route to Saudi Arabia “for failing to respect international maritime rules, press tv reported.
Iran has released footage of a British-flagged oil tanker which was impounded in the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored distress calls.
The footage shows Iranian speedboats cruising near Stena Impero tanker as a military helicopter is flying over the vessel.
An Iranian marine could be heard communicating with the command center in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Masked Iranian commandos then rappelled onto the deck of the tanker from the helicopter. The name of the ship can be seen in the video.
Earlier on Saturday, Allah-Morad Afifipoor, head of Ports and Maritime Organization in southern Hormozgan Province, said the 30,000-tonne UK-flagged Stena Impero tanker had “collided with a fishing boat on its route and, according to law, after an accident it is necessary that the causes be investigated.”
Following the collision, those on board the fishing boat “contacted the British vessel but didn’t receive any response,” so they informed the Hormozgan maritime organization, “according to the legal procedures,” he added.
Afifipoor also noted that the tanker had been taken to Bandar Abbas port, where it and its crew will remain while a probe is carried out into the British vessel’s conduct.
The tanker was not carrying any cargo, he said, adding that the crew members of the ship may be interviewed on technical matters.
“The investigation into the cause of the accident has been started today,” he said. “All its 23 crew members will remain on the ship until the probe is over.”
“If necessary, and at the request of judicial authorities, the crew may be summoned for technical and specialist interviews,” Afifpoor added.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned that there will be “serious consequences” if the situation is not resolved
In a tweet on Saturday, Zarif emphasized that “it is Iran that guarantees the security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.”
“Unlike the piracy in the Strait of Gibraltar, our action in the Persian Gulf is to uphold int’l maritime rules,” Zarif tweeted.
The seizure of the British tanker came more than two weeks after British Royal Marines in Gibraltar stormed the Iran-operated supertanker Grace 1 off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4, seizing the 300,000-tonne vessel on the accusation that it was carrying oil to Syria in possible violation of the European Union’s sanctions on the war-torn Arab country.