LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has lost a second oil tanker after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said earlier it had seized a British oil tanker as it crossed the Strait of Hormuz "for violating international shipping laws."
One of the two carriers, Stina Empero, is flying British flag and is owned by Sweden's Stena Polk, while Reuters reported that a second tanker operated by a British company carrying the Liberian flag.
Iranian media quoted well-informed sources as denying the detention of the mobile carrying the Liberian flag.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards did not detain the tanker, which is run by a British company and is flying the flag of Liberia in the Gulf, the official Tasnim news agency quoted military sources as saying.
"Despite reports, the ship was not detained and allowed to continue its path after being alerted by Iranian forces on safety matters," the semi-official agency said.
British position
Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said Iran's seizure of a British-flagged vessel flying the Liberian flag in the Strait of Hormuz was unacceptable and called for freedom of navigation in the Gulf.
"I am very concerned about the Iranian authorities' detention of two ships in the Strait of Hormuz," Hunt said.
"I will shortly attend a security meeting to review what we know and what we can do to ensure the rapid release of the two ships; a British-flagged vessel flying the flag of Liberia," he said.
"It is necessary to maintain the freedom of navigation and the ability of all ships to move safely and freely in the region," he stressed.
Britain has announced that the oil tanker Stina Empero, which was heading to the port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia, has changed course suddenly after crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
The American position
At the US level, US President Donald Trump said he would talk to Britain after the Revolutionary Guards said he had seized a British tanker in the Gulf.
White House National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquez said the United States was aware of reports that Iran was holding a British oil tanker and would work with its allies and partners to confront Iran.
"We are aware of reports that Iranian forces have detained a British tanker," Marquez said, adding that Washington would continue to work with its allies and partners "to defend our security and our interests in the face of Iran's malicious behavior."
The Iranian position
While the fate of the mobile flying the flag of Liberia is still unknown, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards announced the seizure of a British tanker flying the flag of Britain as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian television quoted the Revolutionary Guard as saying it had detained the British oil tanker for failing to follow international shipping rules.
The Revolutionary Guards' statement said the suspension of the British tanker came at the request of the maritime authorities in the Iranian province of Hormuzgan.
The statement pointed out that the oil tanker mentioned was directed to the shore after arrest, and that it was handed over to the Ports and Marine Corporation for legal proceedings.
A second tanker operated by a British company and flying the flag of Liberia suddenly turned north toward the Iranian coast on Friday evening after passing west through the Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf, according to data from the Reconnaissance ship tracking data.
The data showed that the tanker turned around at around 1600 GMT, about 40 minutes after Steena Empero was diverted similarly to Iran, which the Revolutionary Guards said he had detained.
The news of the British carrier's detention comes amid heightened tension in the Gulf region, and two weeks after British naval forces detained the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 off Gibraltar.
The head of the al-Jazeera office in Tehran, Abdul Qadir Fayez, said the Revolutionary Guard statement, which officially declared that his forces had detained the tanker, described it as a sophisticated oil tanker that violated international navigation laws.
He explained that the term "violation of international navigation laws" used by Iran when ships or tankers enter Iranian territorial waters while crossing the Strait of Hormuz.
The director of the office of the island that large vessels and large vessels and oil tankers may have to approach the territorial waters of Iran, because the Strait of Hormuz on the Iranian side deeper than the other side towards Amman.