Iranian Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad has said that an exchange of the detained Iranian and UK vessels is “impossible.”
He tweeted out a claim that the “UK has illegally detained the ship carrying Iranian oil while the British ship is detained for violating some key safety/security regulations in Hormoz Strait.”
Impossible to advance a quid pro quo or barter exchange of detained UK and Iranian ships as some British media suggest. UK has illegally detained the ship carrying Iranian oil while the British ship is detained for violating some key safety/security regulations in Hormoz Strait.
— Hamid Baeidinejad (@baeidinejad) July 29, 2019
Iran seized the UK-flagged Stena Impero on 19 July as it attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz, citing violations against maritime regulations. Since then, it has allowed embassy officials from Russia and India, among others, to visit crew members. They have reported that the crew members appear to be safe and in good health.
Сотрудники Посольства встретились с нашими гражданами – членами экипажа задержанного танкера #StenaImpero. Состояние здоровья моряков хорошее, они пока остаются на борту. Посольство находится в тесном контакте с иранскими партнерами по вопросу о сроках возвращения на родину pic.twitter.com/vUXEd4m6cn
— Russian Embassy, IRI (@RusEmbIran) July 27, 2019
