The decision of Iran to seize a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf is pushing the country towards a “dangerous path” of “illegal and destabilising” behavior, said the British foreign secretary commenting on the incident.

The seized tanker is called Stena Impero and it is being reported that the owners of the ship have been able to get in touch with it after the seizure and is currently reported to be in the Strait of Hormuz.

It was “deeply concerned” about Iran’s “unacceptable” actions, the UK government said. The vessel was “violating international maritime rules”, Iran has said on its part.

Armed guards had also boarded a second British-owned Liberian-flagged tanker called the MV Mesdar. It was later released on Friday.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard had seized the Stena Impero in a crucial waterway in the Gulf on Friday. Hunt said that before heading into Iranian waters, the tanker was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter.

“Freedom of navigation must be maintained”, he said and warned Iran of “serious consequences” in case the crisis was not quickly resolved.  “We are not looking at military options,” he added. “We are looking at a diplomatic way to resolve this situation.”

“Yesterday’s action in Gulf shows worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour after Gibraltar’s legal detention of oil bound for Syria,” Hunt tweeted on Saturday.

Iran alleged that the tanker had first collided with a fishing boat and then did not pay heed to calls made to its form a smaller aircraft, after which the vessel was seized, said Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

The owners of the tanker have however claimed that it was in international waters when it was approached and till such time the vessel had obeyed all regulations. No injuries to the crew of the tanker, which comprised of Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino nationals, have been reported so far, it said.

“We have advised UK shipping to stay out of the area for an interim period”, a UK government spokeswoman told the media.

This latest crisis on the Gulf seas comes at a time when there has been a sharp rise in tensions between Iran and the UK and the US since April after the US imposed stricter sanctions against Tehran after unilaterally withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which also involved the UK.

There have been incidents of attacks on tankers in the world’s key shipping area since May and the US has pinned the blame on Iran which has denied all such charges.

An Iranian drone in the Gulf was claimed ot have been destroyed by the US on Friday.

While the US administration has denounced the 2015 nuclear deal, the UK government has not done so. The nuclear deal effectively loosened all sanctions on Iran in exchange of Tehran curbing its nuclear program.

However tensions between the UK and Iran flared up recently after an Iranian tanker was seized with the help of UK Royal Marines earlier this month near Gibraltar.

(Adapted from BBC.com)

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