LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the worst fears of British diplomats could be achieved by the capture of Britain's oil tanker Stena Empero and its crew of more than 20 people in the Strait of Hormuz, the diplomatic editor of Britain's Guardian newspaper Patrick Wintour said.
The crisis has shown that Britain can not protect its cargo ships through the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
The story began when British naval forces detained an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar on July 4 and British diplomats knew there would be consequences.
Tanker vs tanker
The Guardian said the British were insisting that they had detained the Iranian carrier Grace 1 because of its suspected destination - a port in Syria - which would breach European Union sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
He claims that the Spaniards claim that the British behaved towards the Iranian ship with instructions from the Americans.
Wintour referred to the telephone conversation that took place a few days ago between British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawad Zarif and the British minister's readiness to release the Iranian oil tanker detained in Gibraltar in return for assurances that it would not go to Syria.