• Iranian commandos take control of the British Empire tanker: the Pasdaran video
  • Hormuz, Iran kidnaps a British tanker. The US deploys soldiers in Saudi Arabia
  • Iranian Pasdaran kidnap a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz
  • Three Iranian ships attempt to block a British oil tanker
  • Iran increases enrichment, the US towards new sanctions
  • Trump: "I stopped the raids in Iran ten minutes earlier". Airlines change routes

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21 July 2019Teheran announces that it has opened an investigation into the Stena Impero oil tanker on charges of having hit a fishing boat. The ship is in Bandar Abbas, while London says it is ready for a 'thoughtful but strong' response if it is not released together with the crew. 'Serious concern' also of the EU. Saudi Arabia in the evening releases an Iranian oil tanker blocked in Jeddah for two and a half months. Israel strengthens the alert of its ships.

Tehran's parliament supports the capture
The Iranian parliament has given its support to the capture, on Friday evening, by the Revolutionary Guard of the British oil tanker "Stena Impero", whose arrest caused a diplomatic crisis between Tehran and London. "The British have committed an act of piracy and we have responded," parliament spokesman Ali Larijani said. MEPs also prepared a statement of support and thanks for the action of the Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz, which has so far been signed by 160 parliamentarians. A member of the Parliament's Energy Commission, Yalal Mirzai, said he hoped that "the act of the Guardian Corps of the Revolution conveyed the message to the British that they could not act against international standards". (AGI) Ant 211055 LUG 19 NNNN

The specter of retaliation
On twitter the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had branded the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker Grace on 4 July in Gibraltar as "an act of piracy". The former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, General Mohsen Rezai, had written that Iran does not seek conflict ", but that certainly" will not fail to retaliate "

"Mutual action"
Now the spokesman of the Guardian Council of Iran, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei is quoted by the semi-official Fars agency and taken up by British agencies as proof of the retaliation thesis. Kadkhodaei describes the seizure of Friday as a legal "mutual action". The council rarely comments on state issues, but when it does it is seen as a reflection of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The council works closely with Khamenei, who has the final say on all state affairs.

"The speed of the investigation depends on crew cooperation"
The speed of the investigation of the British flag tanker arrested on Friday by Iran "will depend on the cooperation of the crew," said Allah-Morad Afifipour, director general of the Port Authority and Province of Hormozgan, in an interview with Press TV, the English-language news channel of Iranian state television. "The investigation depends on the collaboration of the ship's crew members and also on our access to the necessary tests to examine the case."

The 23 crew members are in good health
The 23 crew members are on board and "are in good health," he said. Eighteen, including the captain, are of Indian nationality and five are Filipino, Latvian or Russian. Owned by a Swedish shipowner, the Stena Impero tanker, flying the British flag, was arrested in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday by the revolutionary guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic.

Hunt: "Weighted but robust response"
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt has warned Tehran that he has embarked on a "dangerous road", stressing that the reaction will be "thoughtful but robust". The head of British diplomacy said he had spoken to Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammd Javad Zarif, expressing his "profound disappointment that, after assuring me last Saturday that Iran wanted to defuse the situation, it is acting in the direction opposite". "British ships must and will be protected," he assured in a Twitter message.

Just spoke 2 Iranian FM Zarif & expressed extreme disappointment that having assured me last Sat Iran wanted 2 deescalate situation they have behaved in the opposite way.This has 2 bee actions if we are to find a way through.British shipping must & will be protected

- Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 20, 2019

Tehran: "Kidnapping for non-compliance with maritime code"
According to the Iranian authorities, the ship was seized for "non-compliance with the international maritime code". Quoted by the Iranian press agency Fars, Afifipour, it had previously indicated that the Stena Empire had "collided with a fishing boat" that had "contacted the tanker but received no response". According to him, the fishing vessel then informed Hormozgan's port authority, which opened an investigation into the "causes" of the accident in accordance with the "international law".

The capture video
A planned blitz and filmed down to the smallest detail: the video published by the Tehran authorities shows men in camouflage and with their faces covered by balaclavas coming down from a helicopter and taking control of the British oil tanker Stena Impero