About four weeks ago Iran seized the British tanker "Stena Impero". Since then, relatives fear for the future of the 23 crew members. Reedereichef Erik Hånell has now demanded the release of the crew. The families of the crew, whose members are from India, Latvia, the Philippines and Russia, are extremely worried, Hånell said at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Jawad Sarif in Stockholm. Shipping company Stena Bulk reported on Wednesday that it was a "constructive dialogue".
Sarif is currently in Stockholm to discuss with his Swedish counterpart both the future of the Vienna Atomic Energy Agreement and the situation in the Persian Gulf. The meeting with the head of the shipping company Stena Bulk should not have been previously planned, but was not rejected by Sarif. The "Stena Impero" belongs to the Swedish Stena Bulk, but it does fly under the British flag.
The tanker had been scheduled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz just over a month ago. The strait lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On Tuesday began in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, a lawsuit to investigate the alleged violations of the tanker in the Persian Gulf. This court should then decide how and when the tanker should be released again.
AFP
Iranian television shows crew members of "Stena Impero": A court should decide when the tanker is released
According to information from Tehran, the fate of the "Stena Impero" has nothing to do with the release of the Iranian supertanker in Gibraltar. The "Adrian Darya 1" had been set illegal, but the British tanker had violated the maritime regulations in the Persian Gulf.
The loaded with Iranian oil tanker "Adrian Darya 1", previously ran under the name "Grace 1", had left on Monday from Gibraltar. On Tuesday, the US Department of State warned Greece and other Mediterranean countries that doing business with the tanker would be equivalent to supporting terrorists.
Observers in Tehran believe that, in the end, the exchange proposed by President Hassan Rohani at the beginning of the crisis will come: "Adrian Darya 1" for "Stena Impero". Only Tehran is expected to wait so long, until their own ship is safe again in the country.