The capture of the Stena Impero on Friday was widely seen as an avoidable error for which ministers had ample warning. He said genuine questions had been raised about the UK’s contingency planning after the UK seized the Iranian tanker, Grace 1, on 4 July. Bob Sanguinetti, the chief executive of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: “The health of global trade relies on freedom of navigation. As well as receiving the latest updates from ministers and officials, the COBR meeting will discuss the maintenance of the security of shipping in the Gulf. In the only cooling of tensions on Sunday, Iran said it appreciated Saudi Arabia’s efforts in the return of an Iranian ship that docked at Jeddah port because of technical problems in May.

Source: The Guardian July 21, 2019 19:17 UTC