The Iranian authorities have shortly announced the release of the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker, which was detained by Tehran on July 19.
In a statement, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rubaie said that all legal procedures were taken to allow the vessel out of Iranian waters.
The Iranian’s decision comes ahead of a United Nations summit where it faces tough questions over attacks on rival Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities.
The British vessel, with 23 crew members on board, was seized the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz while on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia.
Iranian
authorities accused Stena Impero of violating maritime navigation rules.
The seizure
came a couple of weeks after the confiscation of an Iranian oil tanker, Grace
1, by the British navy off the coast of Gibraltar due to suspicions that it
carried oil to Syria, which would violate sanctions imposed by the European
Union.
Iranian
authorities had warned it would take action against the UK in retaliation for
the seizure of Grace 1, which Tehran considered an act of piracy.
It is noteworthy
that the United States issued visas allowing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
and FM Zarif to travel to New York for the annual gathering of world leaders at
the UNGA, Reuters quoted Iran’s UN mission spokesman Alireza Miryousefi on
Thursday.
