Owner of British tanker held by Iran says its crew is in good health
Officials from crewmen’s home countries have met with them as the Stena Impero remains held by Tehran, Stena Bulk says
The crew of a British-flagged oil tanker held by Iran for the past eight days have met with representatives of their home countries, who say they are in good health, the ship’s owner said Saturday.
Indian, Russian and Philippine embassy officials met with their nations’ crewmen, Reuters reported.
“We hope this situation can be resolved swiftly and will continue to hold an open dialogue with all involved governments and authorities to secure the release of the crew and vessel,” Stena Bulk, the company that owns the Stena Impero, said.
Also Saturday a top Omani diplomat was in Iran for bilateral talks, in what was seen as a possible effort at diffusing the diplomatic standoff with the UK over the seized tanker.
Neither Oman nor Iran has confirmed that mediation efforts were underway.
The meeting between Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif comes after weeks of volatility over the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for a fifth of all globally traded crude.
Oman, seen as a neutral Gulf country that has acted as a facilitator of talks between the US and Iran in the past, sits across the strait from Iran, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
The Omani diplomat’s visit to Tehran comes amid a spike in tensions between Washington and Tehran stemming from US President Donald Trump’s decision last year to withdraw the US from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and impose sweeping sanctions on the country.
After the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister tweeted that they discussed security in the region, bilateral ties and the “effects of the US’ economic terrorism on Iran,” in reference to US sanctions that also target Iran’s oil exports.
Iranian officials have said the Stena Impero with its crew of 23 — none of whom are British nationals — had violated international shipping laws during its transit through the Strait of Hormuz. But other senior Iranian officials have suggested the ship was seized in retaliation for the British navy’s role in seizing an Iranian supertanker first, off the coast of Gibraltar, over violations of EU sanctions on oil sales to Syria.
The Royal Navy helped impound the Iranian ship that was carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude near Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, on July 4. That ship’s crew is being held aboard the vessel, as is the crew of the Stena Impero, which is now near the heavily guarded Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani suggested this week that Iran might release the British-flagged ship if Britain takes similar steps to release the Iranian oil tanker.
Later Saturday, the visiting Omani minister met with Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, state-run TV reported. Shamkhani said during the meeting that “Iran’s action was completely lawful and consistent with enforcing nautical regulations,” according to the report.
Tensions have flared amid political changes in the UK that saw Boris Johnson become the new prime minister this week. It’s unclear how the new government will respond to Rouhani’s suggestion or the impasse with Iran.
In past weeks, Iran has shot down a US spy drone and US officials say military cyber forces struck Iranian computer systems that handle missile and rocket launchers.
Also earlier, six oil tankers were sabotaged near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Times of Israel Community.