Iran says to release seized British oil tanker "soon"

Iran said Sunday that the seized British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero would be released in the coming days, official IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards in speedboats patrolling the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. [File Photo: IC]

Legal procedure concerning the British oil tanker is about over and "we hope it will be released in the near future," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying.

Iran detained the Stena Impero on July 19 on the allegations that it had violated the maritime regulations while passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Last Wednesday, Iran released seven crew members of the oil tanker.

The Iranian officials have ruled out any link between Stena Impero's case and British seizure of the Iranian supertanker Grace 1 off the coast of Gibraltar.

The Grace 1, renamed as Adrian Darya 1, was released by the Gibraltar authorities on Aug. 16.