The British-flagged vessel, which was captured in July by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz might be released within hours, a Swedish television quoted the chief executive of the firm that owns the vessel. Stena Impero, the British-flagged tanker, was captured two weeks after an Iranian tanker was seized by the United Kingdom just off the coast of Gibraltar. After the seizure, senior officials in Tehran had told reporters that Iran’s seizure of a British oil tanker was a response to Britain’s role in impounding an Iranian supertanker first.

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Political decision to release the ship has been taken

“We have received information now this morning that it seems like they will release the ship Stena Impero within a few hours. So we understand that the political decision to release the ship has been taken,” a Swedish Broadcaster quoted Stena Bulk Chief Executive Erik Hanell. “We hope to be able to head out within a few hours, but we don’t want to anticipate events. We want to see that the ship sails out of Iranian territorial waters,” he added.

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Crew members already released

Earlier, on September 4, Iran released seven Indians onboard the Stena Impero. Abbas Mousavi, the Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesperson, had informed that the ship’s captain had selected seven members of its crew to be released. Mousavi said that the decision to release the crew members was made in line with Iran's "humanitarian policies." Mousavi further said that he had no problem with the crew or the captain but was only concerned about the alleged violations of the international maritime boundary. Later, all the remaining members of the crew were released. 

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Seizure of another vessel

On September 16, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards once again seized a vessel in the Gulf for allegedly smuggling 250,000 litres of diesel fuel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Iran's semi-official Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that the vessel was detained near Iran’s Greater Tunb in the Persian Gulf. “The crew have been handed over to legal authorities in the southern Hormozgan province,” said ISNA. While the crew were handed over to competent authorities, the identities and nationalities of the crew were not divulged by ISNA.

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