London wants to de-escalate tensions with Tehran, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday (Jul 20) following a meeting of the UK's ...
LONDON: Britain on Saturday urged Iran to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf by releasing a UK-flagged ship it said had beenTehran was defiantly ignoring mounting European appeals to free the captured oil tanker and its mostly Indian crew, as the United States prepared to redeploy troops to Iran's regional arch-rival Saudi Arabia.
"They see this as a tit-for-tat situation," British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said following talks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and a meeting of the UK's emergency response committee.Hunt said that while the Grace 1 had been detained legally,"the Stena Impero was seized in Omani waters in clear contravention of international law. It was then forced to sail into Iran. This is totally and utterly unacceptable.
Later on Saturday, NATO's spokesman joined calls condemning Iran's move, saying it was a"clear challenge to international freedom of navigation". It said all NATO allies were concerned by"Iran's destabilising activities".Tensions in the Gulf have soared since May, with Trump calling off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone.Iran said it had opened an investigation on Saturday into the newly-seized tanker.
Stena Bulk said its insurers had been in contact with the head of marine affairs at Bandar Abbas, who reported that the crew were in"good health".The head of marine affairs"confirmed to them that no instructions have been received so far as to what will happen to the ship".As tensions soared, Saudi Arabia said it would once again host US troops to boost regional security.
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