Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says Tehran favours talks with Washington but that the US must first lift sanctions
Britain will seek to put together a European-led maritime protection mission to ensure safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel in what London said was an act of "state piracy".
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is also expected to brief Parliament on the Friday seizure of the Stena Impero tanker, now in a heavily guarded Iranian port. In a dramatic video released by the Revolutionary Guard, several small Guard boats can be seen surrounding the larger tanker as it moves through the strait.
The seizure came hours after a court in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar said it would extend by 30 days the detention of Grace 1, an Iranian tanker seized two weeks ago in an operation aided by British Royal Marines on allegations of breaching EU sanctions against Syria. "It got involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat... When the boat sent a distress call, the British-flagged ship ignored it," said the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour.
"We remain deeply concerned about Iran's unacceptable actions which represent a clear challenge to international freedom of navigation," a government spokeswoman said following an overnight meeting of the government's COBRA emergencies committee.Second ship seized by Iran – UK "These seizures are unacceptable. It is essential that freedom of navigation is maintained and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region," Hunt said.Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has seized a British oil tanker that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain said it was urgently seeking further information after a British-flagged tanker took a sudden turn into Iranian waters.Pompeo says Iran needs to 'come to the table' Trump said on Thursday that the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards of the US warship Boxer and had ignored "multiple calls to stand down."Gibraltar's Supreme Court has granted a 30-day extension to allow authorities there to continue to detain the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 until August 15.
"We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] by mistake!," Araqchi said on Twitter, referring to a US warship in the strategic waterway.A US Navy ship destroyed an Iranian fixed-wing drone in a “defensive action,” escalating tensions in the Gulf after the drone came within "threatening range.
In remarks at the White House, Trump blamed Iran for a "provocative and hostile" action and said the US responded in self-defence. The tanker was seised on Sunday "south of the island of Larak" in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the force's Sepahnews website said."With a capacity of two million barrels and 12 foreign crew on board, the vessel was en route to deliver contraband fuel received from Iranian boats to foreign ships in farther regions when it was intercepted," the force said.
Iran offered no immediate comment on what happened to the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Riah late on Saturday night.Oil tankers previously have been targeted in the wider region amid tensions between the US and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.Trump said Washington is not pushing to topple Iran's leadership but is determined to stop it acquiring nuclear weapons.
The 28 EU foreign ministers insisted that recent Iranian actions surpassing uranium enrichment thresholds set by the 2015 deal did not necessarily condemn the whole agreement. " reminds me of the European appeasement of the 1930s," Netanyahu said in a video statement after EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said none of the parties to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran saw its increased uranium enrichment as "significant non-compliance".
"The risks are such that it is necessary for all stakeholders to pause and consider the possible consequences of their actions," it added.Iran is ready to hold talks with the US if Washington lifts sanctions and returns to the 2015 nuclear deal it quit last year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Sunday.
He said he had a "constructive call" with his Iranian counterpart Zarif, who he said assured him that Tehran "is not seeking to escalate" tensions between the countries. The police said earlier in the day that they had arrested the two second mates from the tanker, a day after the vessel's captain and chief officer were arrested.
“The decisions of Her Majesty’s government of Gibraltar were taken totally independently, based on breaches of existing law and not at all based on extraneous political considerations,” Fabian Picardo told Gibraltar’s parliament. The Pentagon said on Thursday it was discussing military escorts for vessels in the Gulf one day after armed Iranian boats threatened a British oil tanker.
"We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region," a Downing Street spokesman said.A spokesman for the Royal Gibraltar Police said officers have arrested the captain and chief officer of a Iranian supertanker suspected of breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to Syria.
The Iranians ordered the British Heritage oil tanker, which was crossing into the Strait of Hormuz area, to change course and stop in Tehran's nearby waters, CNN said, citing two American officials. "I point out to the British that you initiated insecurity and you shall grasp the consequences of it later on," Rouhani said in comments to the cabinet broadcast by state TV.Iran and Russia on Wednesday poured scorn on America's call for Tehran to adhere to limits in a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, at a special meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog.
Her Iranian counterpart Kazem Gharib Abadi said it was a "sad irony that this meeting is convened with the request of the United States". Trump accused Iran on Wednesday of secretly enriching uranium for a long time and warned that US sanctions will be increased soon, as the UN nuclear watchdog held an emergency meeting on Tehran's breach of a nuclear deal.
Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, articulated those details to reporters following meetings on Tuesday about it with acting US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Pompeo.
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