Iran has warned the United Kingdom against escalating tensions between the two countries in the wake of its seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker – an act the UK government has called “hostile”.
Britain has rejected Tehran’s explanation that it seized the Stena Impero on Friday because it had been involved in an accident, and told its ships to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil passageway.
Read: Death toll rises to 3 in attack on Turkish diplomat in IraqTaiwan’s foreign minister on Monday called for “genuine” democratic elections to be held in Hong Kong after the city was rocked by fresh political violence, comments that will likely infuriate Beijing.
Hong Kong has been plunged into its worst crisis in recent history by weeks of marches and sporadic violent confrontations between police and pockets of hardcore protesters.
The initial protests were lit by a now-suspended bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
But they have since evolved into a wider movement calling for democratic reforms, universal suffrage and a halt to sliding freedoms in the semi-autonomous territory.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters on Sunday night, the seventh weekend in a row that the city has witnessed political violence.
Separately masked men wielding sticks beat up anti-government protesters at a subway station, putting dozens in hospital.
In a tweet on Monday Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu said it was time for the city’s leaders to grant universal suffrage, a core demand of protesters.
“It’s sad to see the rule of law eroding and the divide between the people and the government widening in HongKong,” Wu said as he accompanied President Tsai Ing-wen in a stopover in Denver on their way back from a visit to diplomatic allies in the Caribbean.
“The way forward is genuine democratic elections, not violence in the streets & MTR stations. The freedom and human rights of the people must be protected!” he added.
Taiwan is gearing up for a presidential election where a dominant issue will be relations with the mainland — which sees the self-ruled island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it.
Ties with Beijing have deteriorated since Tsai came to power in 2016 because her party refuses to recognise the idea that Taiwan is part of “one China”.
Tsai has described the 2020 presidential election as a “fight for freedom and democracy”, setting herself up as someone who can defend Taiwan from an increasingly assertive Beijing.
She is facing off against Han Kuo-yu from the opposition KMT party which favours warmer ties with the Chinese mainland.
Last week Tsai’s government said it would provide assistance to Hong Kongers seeking sanctuary after local media reported dozens of activists involved in an unprecedented storming of the city’s parliament had fled to the island.
China’s communist party views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to seize it, by force if necessary.
Beijing has previously indicated that the “one country, two systems” model under which Hong Kong is allowed to keep key liberties could be applied to Taiwan.
But years of sliding freedoms in Hong Kong has done little to endear Taiwan’s inhabitants to the idea of Beijing’s rule.
The “UK government should contain those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships. This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region,” Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s envoy to Britain, wrote on Twitter.
“Iran, however, is firm and ready for different scenarios,” he said.
His comments came a day after Jeremy Hunt, the UK foreign secretary, said Tehran’s actions showed “worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour”.
Hunt – who is also seeking to become the next leader of Britain’s Conservative party, and by default the country’s prime minister – called the seizure it a “tit-for-tat” situation, as it came hours after a court in Gibraltar said it would extend by 30 days the detention of the Grace 1 Iranian tanker seized by British authorities in the Mediterranean two weeks ago on allegations of breaching UN sanctions against Syria.
Iran, which says the seized tanker risked maritime safety and has opened an investigation, remained defiant. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran’s actions were taken to “uphold” international maritime rules.
“The Revolutionary Guards responded to Britain’s hijacking of the Iranian tanker,” parliament speaker Ali Larijani told a parliament session aired live on state radio.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jaabari, reporting from Tehran said the general feeling in the Iranian capital “is that the Iranians have carried out what they believe is their due diligence when it comes to securing the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.”
A picture taken on July 21, 2019, shows Iranian Revolutionary Guards patrolling around the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero as it’s anchored off the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. – Iran warned
Crew in good health
The vessel was impounded with its 23 crew members on board at the port of Bandar Abbas after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized it in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
The IRGC on Saturday released video footage showing a ship with the Stena Impero’s markings being surrounded by speedboats before commandos descended down a rope from a helicopter onto the vessel.
Iran detained the oil tanker on allegations of failing to respond to distress calls and turning off its transponder after hitting a fishing boat.
Its crew is made up of 18 Indians, including the captain, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino.
India, Latvia and the Philippines said they had approached Iran to seek the release of their nationals.
Allah-Morad Afifipoor, director-general of the Hormozgan province port and maritime authority, told Iran’s Press TV on Sunday that the entire crew of the Stena Impero oil tanker was in good health.
“We are ready to meet their needs. But we have to carry out investigations with regards the vessel,” he said.
“The investigation depends on the cooperation by the crew members on the vessel, and also our access to the evidence required for us to look into the matter.”
Stena Bulk, the Sweden-based operator of the Stena Impero, says the tanker was in “full compliance with all navigation and international regulations”.
‘Tit-for-tat’
The seizure has heightened tension between Iran and Britain, which is party to Iran’s 2015 multinational nuclear deal. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday that London was planning to target Iran with sanctions in the aftermath of the tanker seizure.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Britain said the tanker was approached by Iranian forces in Omani territorial waters where it was exercising its lawful right of passage, and that the action “constitutes illegal interference.”
In a statement on Sunday, the Omani foreign ministry did not comment on the ship’s position but called on Iran and Britain to use diplomacy to resolve the situation.
Oman, which maintains warm ties with Iran, said it was in contact with all parties to secure safe passage for ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz and urged Tehran to release the vessel.
Germany and France have also called on Iran to release the Stena Impero as the European Union voiced concern.
US-Iran friction
Tensions in the Gulf have soared in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump calling off air raids against Iran at the last minute in June after Iranian forces downed a US drone, and blaming Iran for a series of tanker attacks.
The latest incidents also came as Trump and US officials insisted on Thursday, despite denials from Tehran, that the US military had downed an Iranian drone that was threatening a US naval vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s archrival, said it would, once again, host US troops on its soil to boost regional security.
Iran and the US have been at loggerheads since May 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the nuclear deal and reimposed crippling sanctions on it.
Source:Â aljazeera.com