London, July 29
Britain today ruled out swapping seized oil tankers with Iran as a second UK warship arrived in the Gulf to conduct convoys that have irritated Tehran.
A sense of crisis in the world’s busiest oil shipping lane has been building up for weeks as Iran responds to US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign.
Britain further outraged Iran by seizing one of its tankers-the Grace 1 -- on July 4 on suspicion of it carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Iran vowed to retaliate and its Revolutionary Guards stormed and detained the UK-flagged Stena Impero and its 23 crew as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 20.
New British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab flatly rejected the idea of the two tankers being exchanged or simultaneously released in a bid to dial back the tensions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had hinted earlier that he was open to a tanker swap. — PTI
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