The Iranian authorities will fast track legal action against a British oil tanker that Tehran seized last month in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
"We will expedite the legal process for the British tanker that is now in our custody after they basically committed sea crimes by taking our ship," Reuters cited him as saying.
Zarif added that Iran will not be lenient about ships in the Persian Gulf that violate laws.
The UK-flagged Stena Impero was captured on July 19 with 23 people on board as it passed through the waterway under the watch of a British warship. The ship was impounded at the southern port of Bandar Abbas for allegedly breaking "international maritime rules." Other Iranian officials said the seizure was in retaliation for British forces capturing an Iranian tanker accused of carrying oil to Syria.
