EU Nations Begin To Band Together To Condemn Iran's Actions

France, Germany and Britain band together to condemn Iran's actions

BY SYDNEY DENNEN

 

France, Germany and Bahrain rallied behind Britain after a British oil tanker was seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. All condemning Iran's actions in statements Saturday afternoon.

A German foreign ministry spokesman said, "We urge Iran to release (this)... ship and its crew immediately. 

Germany continued by saying this could further escalate tensions in the region and "would be very dangerous and undermine all ongoing efforts to find a way out of the current crisis." 

France's foreign ministry also put out a comment saying, "We have learned with great concern of the seizure of a British vessel by Iranian forces and we strongly condemn it and express an already tense situation in the area."

Earlier Saturday, the British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt also expressed concern over the Iranian decision calling this a "dangerous path."

Iran's Fars news agency originally reported late Friday night that the British oil tanker had been taken to the Bander Abbas port and Iran said that the ship had been involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing ship. 

According to Iran the ship sent out a distress call and the British tanker ignored the call. 

New reports also show that the British ship was carrying no cargo when it was seized by the IRGC.

In a tweet, Hunt said: "Yesterday's action in Gulf show worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilizing behavior after Gibraltar's legal detention of oil bound for Syria."

Hunt also tweeted his concern about a jailed British-Iranian aid worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliff. In the tweet, he said there has been no contact between her and her family after she was moved from a Tehran prison to a psychiatric ward in a hospital. 

"We'd hoped this meant she was getting medical treatment she needs but the fact that she has been cut off from contact with her family is giving us huge cause for concern," he tweeted.