Iran says it seized British oil tanker after collision in Strait of Hormuz

Iran opened an investigation on Saturday into a British-flagged oil tanker it alleges collided with a fishing vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said it took control of the Stena Impero for breaking "international maritime rules" in the strait, a chokepoint for around a third of the world's sea-borne oil.

The vessel and its crew would remain in the Iranian port of Bander Abbas while the accident was investigated, Fars new agency reported, quoting the head of Ports and Maritime Organisation in southern Hormozgan province, Allahmorad Afifipour.

Britain said Iran had seized two ships in the Gulf, and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned of "serious consequences" if the issue was not resolved quickly.

The incidents came hours after a court in Gibraltar said it would extend by 30 days the detention of an Iranian tanker seized two weeks ago in an operation aided by British Royal Marines on allegations of breaching EU sanctions against Syria.

The Guards also said Thursday they had seized another "foreign tanker" and its 12 crew days earlier for allegedly smuggling fuel, without giving further details.

Tensions in the Gulf have soared in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump calling off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone, and blaming Iran for a series of tanker attacks.

The Swedish-owned tanker "has 23 crew and they are all on the ship," Afifipour said, quoted by Fars news agency.

The Philippines said the crew was made up of 18 Indians, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino.