The tension between the UK and Iran has been escalating. Tensions grew further after the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker by officials in Gibraltar, accompanied by British Royal Marines. British Royal Marines in Gibraltar grid around an Iranian ship believed to have been carrying oil to Syria, which is, according to authorities is a violation of European Union sanctions on Syria.
As a retaliation act, Iran seized the British flagged Stena Impero in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, claiming that it had collided with a fishing boat and violated international maritime laws.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently proposed trade if the UK releases an Iranian tanker Grace 1, then Iran will return a British-flagged vessel it seized last week.
“If Britain steps away from the wrong actions in Gibraltar, they will receive an appropriate response from Iran,” Rouhani said on Wednesday during a cabinet meeting.
On Wednesday, an Iranian official reported that the UK sent a mediator to Iran to deal with the issue of freeing of the Stena Impero.
“A country that at one time appointed ministers and lawyers in Iran has reached a point where they send a mediator and plead for their ship to be freed,” the head of the Supreme Leader’s office, Mohammadi Golpayegani said, according to sources.
But British diplomatic sources denied that the UK had sent any mediator.
For now, Tensions in the Gulf region are rising, with threats of a military confrontation between the United States and Iran as Washington has already blamed Tehran for conducting attacks on shipping business and creating a spat around the Strait of Hormuz but all the allegations are denied by Tehran.
The Department for Transport has advised to regularly provide security to UK ships in high-risk areas of Gulf Sea, especially in Strait of Hormuz. The threat level is too high that British ships are advised not to enter Iranian waters.