STOCKHOLM: British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero is still being held in Iran, despite Tehran lifting a detention order on the vessel, its owner said on Wednesday.
Sweden’s Stena Bulk said it was not in negotiations with Iran and not aware of any formal charges against the crew or the company.
Iran’s foreign ministry said earlier that a lifting of the detention order had been finalized, but that an investigation into the vessel was ongoing.
“We haven’t been accused of anything. Not through any formal letter or anything else to the company. We are still in the dark over why we are anchored in Bandar Abbas,” Stena Bulk CEO Erik Hanell told Reuters by telephone.
He said the ship was fueled and ready to sail for a port in the United Arab Emirates as soon as it was cleared to leave.
Iranian forces seized the Stena Impero on July 19 for alleged marine violations two weeks after British marines detained an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar. The Iranian vessel was released in August.
The actions followed attacks on other merchant vessels in Gulf oil shipping routes which Washington blamed on Tehran. Iran has denied responsibility.
Hanell said tensions in the region had seen the company tighten security around its ships.
“Our British-flagged ships are now escorted by British frigates. We have a higher level of risk management now,” he said.
The head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, Mohammad Rastad, said on Monday the Stena Impero was free to depart from Bandar Abbas port after legal hurdles had been cleared.
Hanell said there were still Iranian guards on the ship and he had no idea why the ship had not been allowed to leave yet.
“We had a dialogue with them up until the end of last week. We thought everything was ready (for the ship to be released),” Hanell said.
Iran freed seven of the 23 crew members earlier this month and Stena Bulk has tried to get the rest out as well, in part by offering a crew exchange.
“We thought it would have been reasonable, but we weren’t allowed to do it,” Hanell said.
Iran still holding British tanker despite lifting detention order
Iran still holding British tanker despite lifting detention order
- Stena Bulk said it was not in negotiations with Iran
- Iran said earlier that a lifting of the detention order had been finalized
Last Christians gather in ruins of Turkiye’s quake-hit Antakya
- Saint Peter’s, one of the world’s oldest rock churches, is a sacred rallying point for the isolated Christians still left in quake-hit Antakya in southeastern Turkiye
ANTAKYA: Saint Peter’s, one of the world’s oldest rock churches, is a sacred rallying point for the isolated Christians still left in quake-hit Antakya in southeastern Turkiye, the city known in ancient times as Antioch.
“Since the earthquake, our community has scattered,” said worshipper Mari Ibri.
“Those who remain are trying to regroup. We each had our own church but, like mine, they have been destroyed.”
The landscape around the cave remains scarred by the disaster nearly three years ago, when two earthquakes devastated Hatay province on February 6, 2023 and its jewel, Antakya, the gateway to Syria.
Sad fields of rubble and the silhouettes of cracked, abandoned buildings still scar the city — all enveloped in the ever-present grey dust.
Since the earthquakes, Antakya city has emptied and the Christian community has shrunk from 350 families to fewer than 90, Father Dimitri Dogum told AFP.
“Before, Christmas at our house was grandiose,” Ibri recalled.
“Our churches were full. People came from everywhere.”
Ibri’s own church in the city center was rendered inaccessible by the earthquakes.
Now she and other worshippers gather at the cave on December 24 — Christmas Eve in some Christian calendars.
It is here, they believe, that Peter, the disciple Jesus assigned to found the Christian church, held his first religious service in the 1st century.
The rock church was later enlarged and 11th-century crusaders added a pale stone facade.
It is now a museum, opened to the faithful only on rare occasions.
Christmas Eve is one.
The morning sun was still glowing red in the sky when Fadi Hurigil, leader of Antakya’s Orthodox Christian community, and his assistants prepared the service.
They draped the stone altar and unpacked candles, holy oil, chalices and plastic chairs.
Out in front they placed figurines of Christ and three saints near a bottle of rough red wine, bread baskets and presents for the children.
The sound system played a recording of the bells of Saint Peter and Paul church, which now stands empty in Antakya city center.
“That was my church,” said Ibri, crossing herself. “They recorded the peals.”
Around one hundred worshippers soon squeezed into the incense-filled cave and at least as many congregated outside.
A large police contingent looked on. Sniffer dogs had already inspected the cave and esplanade.
“It’s normal,” said Iliye, a 72-year-old from Iskenderun, 60 kilometers (40 miles) further north. “We’re a minority. It’s to protect us.”
The slow chanting of Orthodox hymns heralded the start of the two-hour service, conducted entirely in chants sung in Arabic and Turkish by Dogum and another cleric.
“It’s very moving for us to be here in the world’s first cave church, where the first disciples gathered,” the priest said.
“There used to be crowds here,” he added.
“In 2022, there were at least 750 people outside, Christians and non-Christians alike.”
Since the earthquakes, the gathering has been much smaller, although it is now starting to grow again.
At the end of the service, when Christmas carols fill the air, Dogum and Hurigil cut a huge rectangular cake.
The Nativity scene at its center — Mary, baby Jesus, the ox and the ass — was edged with whipped cream.
“There’s the religious dimension but it’s also important that people can gather here again,” a worshipper said.
“After February 6, our fellow citizens scattered. But they’re starting to come back. We’re happy about that.”
