Iran says its forces seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and directed it to Iran

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz on December 21, 2018.

• Iran has seized UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian media and the ship's operator.
• 23 crew members are aboard the vessel; the company has been unable to make contact with them since the vessel was seized.
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Iran's PressTV reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps took control of the UK-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday afternoon local time. The ship's owner, the Sweden-based Stena, and its operator, Northern Marine Management, released a statement about the incident.

"Stena Bulk and Northern Marine Management can confirm that at approximately 1600 BST on 19^th July UK registered vessel Stena Impero (built 2018, 49,683 DWT) was approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters," the release states. "We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran."

The company states that there are 23 crew members aboard the Stena Impero.

The tanker entered the Strait of Hormuz bound for Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia on Friday. The tanker drove straight out of the channel towards Iran's Qeshm island, according to Marinetraffic.com.

This is the second foreign vessel Iran has seized in the past week; on Thursday, it released footage of an IRGC boat crew circling the UAE-owned, Panama-flagged Riah tanker, which has been missing since Sunday. The government of Gibraltar, a British territory, seized an Iranian vessel, which it said was smuggling fuel to Syria. Iran denies that the vessel was carrying fuel to Syria and has repeatedly demanded its release.

The US-Iran standoff has targeted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where over $1 billion of crude oil is shipped through daily. Oil prices have remained largely stable over the past month and are currently around $55 for a barrel, but began rising as news spread of Iran's seizure.

Commenting on broader tensions in the region, US President Donald Trump said Friday that US ships are "the most deadly ships ever conceived and we hope for [Iran's] sake they don't do anything foolish. If they do they're going to pay a price like nobody's ever paid a price."