• Iran increases enrichment, the US towards new sanctions
  • Britain blocks an oil tanker, Iran calls for "immediate release"
  • High voltage US Iran. Tehran replies to Trump's sanctions: "For ever closed via diplomacy"

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20 July 2019The Stena Empire, the oil tanker hijacked by the Iranian Revolutionary Guardians in the Strait of Hormuz, has arrived at anchor this morning from the port of Bandar Abbas. The ship owned by the Swedish shipping company Stena Bulk beats the British flag and its seizure appears a clear retaliation for that of the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 in Gibraltar in early July. A Liberian flag tanker, MV Masdar, owned by Norbulk Shipping, a company based in Glasgow, was also seized as the Stena Empire headed for Saudi Arabia.

Both London and Washington quickly denounced the move as a rash violation of international law. The Iranian media reported that the Stena Empire was involved in an accident with a fishing vessel and that the ship had been taken to the port of Bandar Abbas. The 23-man crew - consisting of 20 Indian citizens, a Russian, a Latvian and a Filipino - will remain on board until the Iranian authorities finish investigating the incident, according to the Iranian news agency Fars.

The British Foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt, called the seizure "unacceptable" and stated that "it is essential to maintain freedom of navigation and that all ships can move safely and freely in the region". The Foreign Office of the United Kingdom has also advised ships to "stay out of the area" for the time being.

The kidnappings take place at a dangerous moment of tension between Iran and the United States after Washington came out of the Iranian nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions on Tehran. Iran, in turn, has announced that it will no longer comply with the uranium enrichment restrictions agreed with that agreement.

In this context, the seizure of the oil tanker loaded with Iranian crude, Grace 1, arrived on July 4 off Gibraltar on charges of transporting oil for Syria in violation of the UN embargo. Iran has announced retaliation and threatened the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the most important traffic points for the global oil supply chain. If this stalemate continues to affect traffic in the strait, it could seriously hamper the global economy. Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of the influential Lloyds List publication, quoted by CNN, said that the seizure of Stena Empire is "probably the highest security threat we have seen in the region since the late 1980s".