Following the seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker by Iran, tensions between the United Kingdom and Iran has flared up with Iran Tehran warning London not to escalate the situation. The UK had called the seizure as being a “hostile” takeover.

The explanation that Iran had given behind the seizure of the Stena Impero on Friday that it had caused an accident, has been rejected by the UK. London has advised its ships to void using the Strait of Hormuz despite it being a major oil passageway.

The “UK government should contain those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships. This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region,” Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s envoy to Britain, wrote on Twitter.

“Iran, however, is firm and ready for different scenarios,” he said.

It was just a day ago that the UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had said that Iran’s actions showed “worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour”.

The seizure of the ship by Iran was also called a “tit-for-tat” situation by Hunt because the incident took place just hours after a court in Gibraltar ruled an extension of detention of the Grace 1 Iranian tanker by 30 days. Two weeks ago, the tanker had been seized by British authorities in the Mediterranean over alleged breaching of the UN sanctions against Syria.

Iran was however defiant about the seizure of the Stena Impero and has initiated an investigation because it alleged that it risked maritime safety.

Iran’s actions were taken to “uphold” international maritime rules, said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“The Revolutionary Guards responded to Britain’s hijacking of the Iranian tanker,” parliament speaker Ali Larijani told a parliament session aired live on state radio.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had seized the tanker and taken it to the port of Bandar Abbas along with its 23 crew members. The allegations of Iran for seizing the oil tanker were that it did not give any response to distress calls and had turned off its transponder after hitting a fishing boat. The crew of the vessel comprised of 18 Indians, including the captain, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino.

They had approached Iran to seek the release of their nationals, India, Latvia and the Philippines said.

The entire crew of the Stena Impero oil tanker was in good health, Allah-Morad Afifipoor, director-general of the Hormozgan province port and maritime authority, told Iran’s Press TV on Sunday.

“We are ready to meet their needs. But we have to carry out investigations with regards the vessel,” he said. “The investigation depends on the cooperation by the crew members on the vessel, and also our access to the evidence required for us to look into the matter.”

The tanker was in “full compliance with all navigation and international regulations”, said Stena Bulk, the Sweden-based operator of the Stena Impero.

(Adapted from Aljazeera.com)

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