Iran's Seizure of British Vessel Further Roils Gulf Region Occupies British Further

                             The British Oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized by Iran

LONDON-Iran Seizure at least one British Oil tanker in a vital Persian Gulf waterway on Friday, a sharp escalation of tensions with the West that revived fears of a military clash, even as voices on both sides appeared to be seeking room for negotiations.

The impoundment of the tanker bt Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps naval patrols came a  they after the United States said it had downed an Iranian drone menacing an American warship in the region.

But Iran's standoff with Britain, in perticular, carries its own complications. Britain occupies a pivotal place in a Block of European States that have tried to broker some resolution to a broader conflict between Tehran and Washington over the fate of a 2015 deal with the word powers designed to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain convened an emergency meeting of advisers late Friday night to respond.

The news agencies quoted the Guards as saying the tanker had "violated three international naval regulations", including turning off a GPS locator, breaking the traffic pattern in the Strait of Hormuz
and polluting the water by dumping crude oil residue.

"The movement now to  realy on only our selves will yield important results including economically", the ayotollah said.

Tensions between Britain and Iran spiked earlier this month when the British Military impounded an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar on suspicion of having violated a European Union embargo on the sale 

of oil to Syria. Iran called the seizure "Piracy", accused Britain of acting on a pretext at the behest of 

Washington and threatened to capture a British ship in retaliation.

Iranian vessels first tried

 to stop a British tanker in the Persian Gulf region a few days later, on July 11.

The ship's owners reported that the Stena Impero, a 30,000-ton vessel bound for Soudi Arabia, had 

been "approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicoptor during transit of the Strait of Hormuz 

while the vessel was in international waters".

"We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north toward Iran", the owners, 

Stena Bulk, and the ship's managers,Northern Marine, Said in the Statement.It was unclear the Friday if the British Authorities had confirmed the release of the second tanker.

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                                                               Bhaskar Biswas