UN Security Council Has No Current Plans To Discuss Iran - UK's Envoy

The United Nations Security Council does not yet have any plans to hold a meeting to discuss the rising tensions around Iran, UK Political Coordinator to the United Nations Stephen Hickey told reporters on Monday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2019) The United Nations Security Council does not yet have any plans to hold a meeting to discuss the rising tensions around Iran, UK Political Coordinator to the United Nations Stephen Hickey told reporters on Monday.

"No current plans," Hickey said, responding to whether the Council plans to convene a session to discuss the Islamic Republic.

On Friday, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the UK oil tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz over what it described as a breach of international maritime regulations. The the vessel and its 23 crew members, who include three Russian nationals, has been guided to the Bandar Abbas port.

Although they have been out of reach for any contact, Iran claims that the soldiers are safe while the tanker is docked in the port.

Kuwaiti Ambassador to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi also said no member states have requested a session to address the incident in the Strait of Hormuz.

"No one requested yet, we did not request anything," Al Otaibi said, adding that in August, under the Poland's presidency over the Council, the body is expected to convene to discuss the middle East in general.

Relations between Iran and the West have been particularly tense over the past months. Since May, the United States has been blaming Iran for attacking tankers in the Persian Gulf, a charge that Tehran has denied. In early July, UK authorities seized a Syria-bound Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar, causing outrage in Iran. Later that month, London claimed that three Iranian boats had attempted to seize one of its oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.