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UK-flagged Tanker Reported 'Safe and Well' After Stop in Gulf

Reuters

   DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - UK-flagged supertanker Pacific Voyager
   which halted in the Gulf on Saturday is "safe and well," a British
   official told Reuters, after Iran dismissed reports its Revolutionary
   Guards had seized the vessel.

   A Revolutionary Guards commander on Friday had threatened to seize a
   British ship in retaliation for the capture by Royal Marines of Iranian
   supertanker Grace 1 in Gibraltar.

   The Pacific Voyager stopped in the Gulf en route to Saudi Arabia from
   Singapore before resuming its course, Refinitiv Eikon mapping showed.

   It stopped as part of a routine procedure to adjust its arrival time at
   its next port, an official at UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) told
   Reuters.

   The UKMTO, which coordinates shipping in the Gulf, had been in contact
   with the tanker, the official said.

   On Saturday an Iranian cleric said Britain should be "scared" about
   Tehran's possible retaliation for the seizure of the Grace 1, the Fars
   semi-official news agency reported.
   "I am openly saying that Britain should be scared of Iran's retaliatory
   measures over the illegal seizure of the Iranian oil tanker," said
   Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, a member of the
   Assembly of Experts clerical body.

   Tensions are high in the Gulf following last month's attacks on vessels
   near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route, and Iran's
   downing of a U.S. drone. Washington and Saudi
   Arabia have directly blamed Iran for the attacks on tankers, something
   Tehran denies.

   The attacks have raised fears of a broader confrontation in the region
   where the United States has boosted its military
   presence over perceived Iranian threats.