Jeremy Hunt, the foreign minister for the United Kingdom, issued a warning to Iran after its seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker.
The ship Stena Impero was taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Friday in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping area in the Middle East.
Hunt, 52, told the BBC that although the U.K. is not currently considering military options, there would be “serious consequences” for the action it took Friday.
“We are absolutely clear that if this situation is not resolved quickly there will be serious consequences,” Hunt said. “We are not looking at military options. We are looking at a diplomatic way to resolve this situation, but we are very clear that it must be resolved.”
The move further ratcheted up ongoing tension between Iran and the U.K.. Iran also seized another British-owned tanker, the Liberian-flagged MV Mesdar, for a period of time Friday before releasing it with a warning. The escalation comes after the Royal Marines detained an Iranian ship in Gibraltar bound for Syria, alleging that it was violating European Union sanctions.
The U.K. has raised its threat level for ships in Iranian waters to “critical,” its highest level, prior to Friday’s seizures. After the incident, the British government “advised UK shipping to stay out of the area for an interim period.”
The U.S. is also embroiled in ongoing tensions with Iran. President Trump addressed the seizures to reporters, saying that the U.S. would be collaborating closely with London on the matter.
“We’ll be working with the U.K., we have no written agreement, but we have an agreement which is longstanding,” the president said.
The news of the detained ship came just a day after the U.S. says it “destroyed” an Iranian drone. Tensions in the Middle East have continued to escalate in recent weeks. Last month, the U.S. planned airstrikes against Iranian facilities after the country downed a U.S. drone, but Trump reportedly called off the attack in the last minutes, citing possible Iranian casualties.
