Britain has been plunged into a diplomatic row with Iran after Royal Marines seized an Iranian oil tanker as it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, in a move likely to further inflame tensions in the Gulf. The Grace 1 supertanker was boarded in the early hours of Thursday (Thursday afternoon NZ time) to prevent it from delivering a cargo of crude oil to Syria in defiance of EU sanctions, apparently following a request to the UK from the US. The move provoked fury in Iran, which accused Britain of bowing to US pressure to blockade its oil exports and summoned the British ambassador to the foreign ministry in Tehran to express “its very strong objection to the illegal and unacceptable seizure” of the 1080-foot (329-metre) vessel. Abbas Moussavi, a spokesman, called the move “destructive” and said it could increase tensions in the Persian Gulf, where six oil tankers have suffered attacks that Britain and the US have blamed on Iran. READ MORE: * Tanker attacks: US says Iran took mine off tanker; Iran denies involvement * Oil price jumps after tanker attacks threaten a key global route * Oil tanker sinks after two vessels were ‘attacked’ in Gulf of Oman * United Arab Emirates blame ‘sophisticated’ tanker attacks on ‘state actor’ * As tensions with US rise, Iran threatens to curtail cooperation in the nuclear deal * US issues steep list of demands for nuclear treaty with Iran A specialist team from the Royal Marines’ maritime operations unit swooped [More]