Unic Press UK: A UK oil tanker, Stena Impero, which the Iranian authorities seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 over allegations of violating international maritime rules, has been released, the Press TV reports, making a reference to a statement issued by the Ports and Maritime Organization in the southern Hormozgan Province.
The Stena Impero, a 30,000-tonne UK-flagged tanker, had 23 crew members on board when it was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in July.
Though the Iranian government said the Stena Impero had violated maritime law, it was perceived in some quarters that the decision to impound the UK-flagged tanker is not unconnected to a 330 metre (1,000 feet) Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1 (later renamed Adrian Darya 1), which the Gibraltar government, in collaboration with British forces, impounded on July 5, though later released on August 15.
