News, Politics

Iran captured this UK-flagged tanker in July. It’s finally left port.

 

The UK-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero has left Iran, where it has been detained since July 19, and is heading for international waters.

The ship sailed from Bandar Abbas port at 9 a.m. local time on Friday, Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA reported. The company operating the ship, Stena Bulk, also confirmed the tanker’s release.
“The vessel has left the port of Bandar Abbas and is transiting to Dubai for the crew to disembark and receive medical checks and de-briefing,” the president and CEO of Stena Bulk, Erik Hanell, said in a statement.
“The families of crew members have been informed and the company is currently making arrangements for the repatriation of its valued seafarers at the earliest possible opportunity,” Hanell added.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards forces captured the ship in the Strait of Hormuz in July amid increasing hostility between Tehran and the West. Twenty-three crew members — none of them British — were on board.
But in recent weeks, London and Tehran have intensified talks. On Tuesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Johnson called for the immediate release of Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe and other dual nationals imprisoned in Iran, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

Source: Iran captured this UK-flagged tanker in July. It’s finally left port.