Iran's Fars News Agency said the IRGC had taken control of the Stena Impero on Friday after it collided with an Iranian fishing boat whose distress call it ignored.The vessel, carrying no cargo, was taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. It would remain there with its 23 crew – 18 of them Indians – while the accident was investigated, Iranian news agencies reported, quoting Allahmorad Afifipour, head of the Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province.Zarif told Britain's Hunt that the ship must go through a legal process before it could be released, Iran's ISNA news agency reported.The strait, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, is the sole outlet for exports of most Middle Eastern oil, and the seizure sent oil prices sharply higher. The United States, which tightened sanctions against Iran in May with the aim of halting its oil exports altogether, has been warning for months of an Iranian threat to shipping in the strait.Another oil tanker, the Mesdar, was also boarded by Iranian personnel on Friday and temporarily forced to divert towards Iran, but later was allowed to continue on its route through the strait. On Saturday, Algeria's APS news agency said the Mesdar was owned by Algeria's state oil company Sonatrach.Reuters contributed to this report.@jeremycorbyn for factual accuracy the UK flagged tanker was seized following Gibraltarian enforcement of EU sanctions preventing oil exports to Syria...nothing to do with @realDonaldTrump however disappointing that must be https://t.co/VelCaDZEm6
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 20, 2019