July 19, 2019

Iran seized a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations and allowed a second one to proceed after issuing a warning, according to Iran state TV and news reports.

The actions were seen as a dramatic intensification of already fraught relations between the U.S. and Iran, and now Britain, which seized an Iranian tanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria several weeks ago.

“This is an extraordinarily brazen step here. This is taking tankers under way, then forcing them into Iranian waters, and I think it’s a highly provocative step. It’s something the Iranians tried to do before, when they tried to nab another British ship on the 10th of July but British war ships stopped them,” said Henry Rome, Iran analyst with Eurasia Group. “This is an intentional escalation from what we’ve seen by the Iranians.”

Read more:

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/british-oil-tanker-reportedly-seized-by-iranian-forces.html