TEHRAN, Iran – In new video and audio released Monday, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer is heard telling a British warship not to interfere or put their “life in danger” as the paramilitary force, using speedboats and a helicopter, seized a U.K.-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month.
The video includes a shot apparently filmed on the day of the July 19 incident from above the British warship Foxtrot 236 that was in the vicinity of the U.K.-flagged Stena Impero, showing the British navy unable to prevent Iran’s seizure of the ship in the critical waterway.
It also offers new glimpses into the tense exchange that took place between the British Navy and the Iranian Guard during the seizure.
The Stena Impero was seized as it transited the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman. The narrow waterway is of critical importance to the world’s energy supplies because one-fifth of all global crude exports passes through the strait.
Tensions in the strait have soared as Iran faces economic pressures from President Donald Trump’s decisions to withdraw the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and impose sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports, among other key industries.