Members of British tanker crew freed: Iranian spokesman

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Several crew members of a seized British oil tanker have been released, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday, according to local media.

While the spokesman gave no number, Iranian state TV channel said seven crew members had been freed.

On July 20, the British tanker Stena Impero was seized by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to then-British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, the tanker was surrounded by four vessels and a helicopter and then rerouted into Iranian waters. Although the ship is U.K.-owned, none of the 23 crew members are British.

The U.K. has since dispatched a second warship to the Persian Gulf to support British forces in the region and to ensure the safety of British commercial ships.