Iran detains 2 tankers in Mideast Gulf: Update 3

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Iran has detained two oil tankers as the vessels transited through the strait of Hormuz, in the latest escalation of tensions along the shipping channel.

The country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) said it captured the UK-flagged Stena Impero "for breaching international maritime law." Iranian authorities today also captured a second, Liberian-flagged tanker. UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said government officials were reviewing what they could do to "swiftly secure the release of the two vessels" and would be in contact with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"These seizures are unacceptable" Hunt said. "It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region."

US president Donald Trump said Iranians were "showing their colors." Yesterday he called on other nations to work with the US to protect ships as they move through the strait.

"This only goes to show what I am saying about Iran: trouble," Trump said. "Nothing but trouble."

The incident happened a few hours after the UK said it would hold onto an Iranian tanker it seized off Gibraltar earlier this month. This is the latest escalation of tensions in the Mideast Gulf that began with an attack on four tankers berthed outside Fujariah, UAE, in mid-May. Since then, two tankers have been attacked while traversing the strait of Hormuz; Iran shot down a US drone; and the US said yesterday that it shot down an Iranian drone.

Tanker owner Stena Bulk said the Stena Impero was approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter while in international waters, and it is now unable to make contact. There are 23 people on board. Tanker tracking showed the tanker, which typically transports clean product cargoes, diverted sharply from its heading of Jubail in Saudi Arabia and is moving north in the direction of Iran's Larak island — a holding point for the country's state-owned NITC fleet.

Earlier today Gibraltar's supreme court gave authorities there permission to detain the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Grace 1 for an additional 30 days. It was seized on suspicion of taking crude to Syria, in breach of EU sanctions. Iran has laid claim to the Grace 1 and had threatened to retaliate in kind.

BP cancelled the charter of its Suezmax British Heritage through the strait of Hormuz earlier this month, and the UK government said three Iranian vessels attempted to impede it when it did pass through.