Iran has seized a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the tanker “Impero Stena” was seized Friday for “non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations”.
UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has warned “if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences”.
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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the ongoing incident in the Strait of Hormuz.
The website of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, sepahnews.com, has said the British tanker "Impero Stena" was seized Friday for "non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations" and was taken to an Iranian port.
A second oil tanker has turned sharply north towards the Iran coast, according to Refinitiv tracking data.
Names Mesdar, the ship is British-operated and Liberian-flagged.
The second oil tanker, Mesdar, changed course about 40 minutes after the Stena Impero tanker, which is the ship the Iran Revolutionary Guards have claimed they captured. These timings are based on Refinitiv tracking data.
Deputy leader of Labour Tom Watson has said the reports coming out of the Strait of Hormuz are "of real concern".
This is a screengrab from www.marinetraffic.com showing the route taken by the first oil tanker, Stena Impero.
The owner of Stena Impero has confirmed that at around 16:00BST the ship was approached in international waters by small crafts and a helicopter and they are now unable to contact the vessel.
Hello. This is Andrew Buncombe in Seattle. Thanks for joining our coverage about the seizing of a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf, apparently by Iranian forces
What we know so far is that the vessel, the Stena Impero, which was bound for Saudi Arabia, say they have been unable to contact the vessel and it is 'heading north towards Iran'
Iran's Revolutionary Guards has claimed it is behind the capture of the British-flagged tanker. It follows Britain's seizure of an Iranian vessel earlier this month
Here's our most story by Jon Sharman, Kim Sengupta and
Borzou Daragahi:
Borzou Daragahi:
Donald Trump has weighed in on the issue, saying he will talk to the UK about the issue
“We don’t have many tankers going in,” he told reporters at the White House.
“We’ll talk to the UK”
He said the US has no written agreement with UK, but long standing relations with the country
“We’ll talk to the UK”
He said the US has no written agreement with UK, but long standing relations with the country
More from one of the White House reporters for VOA:
It has now been confirmed Iran has seized a second UK-linked tanker:
This analysis from a veteran British diplomatic correspondent:
Immediately there's impact on the oil markets
In his comments to reporters, Mr Trump, who pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal last year, took the opportunity to score a political point: "This only goes to show what I'm saying about Iran. Trouble. Nothing but trouble," he said. "It goes to show you I was right about Iran."
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt just said he he is "extremely concerned" by the "unacceptable" seizure of two oil tankers by Iranian authorities in the Strait of Hormuz
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