Iran releases radio communication with British warship

Recordings of Iran's radio communications with a British war ship escorting an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz were released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The British vessel insisted that it is cruising in international waters along with the British-flagged oil tanker 'British Heritage' while IRGC boat warned to not interfere in the tanker seizure.

Tehran: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday released a video showing purported radio conversations between its navy force and a British warship escorting UK-flagged tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

In the video, drone images purportedly shot by the IRGC were shown of the British warship along with audio of a radio conversation between the crew of the warship and an Iranian official of the Revolutionary Guard.

According to the audio recording, the British vessel insists that it is cruising in international waters along with the British-flagged oil tanker 'British Heritage' while being warned by the IRGC boat not to interfere in the tanker's seizure.

Later, the British-flagged Stena Impero oil tanker was seen being seized in the Strait of Hormuz a week ago.The Stena Impero is still docked in the port city of Bandar Abbas near the Strait of Hormuz and all its 23 crew members are in IRGC's detention.

Some senior Iranian officials have suggested the ship was seized in retaliation for the British navy's role in seizing an Iranian supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar for violating EU sanctions on oil sales to Syria.