The US condemned Iran's seizing of two Greek-flagged oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf and demanded their release.
State Department spokesman Ned Price called the move a “threat to maritime security”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias agreed that “Iran must immediately release the seized vessels, their cargoes and their crews”, Mr Price said.
“Iran's continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights and freedoms are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” he said.
“The United States stands with Greece, our key Nato ally and partner in the face of this unjustified seizure.”
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boarded the Greek tankers in the Gulf on Friday, days after Athens said it would deliver Iranian oil it had seized from a Russian tanker to Washington.
Iran said on Saturday the crews of the tankers were in “good health” and not under arrest.
The crews have remained on board the two tankers. Greece said nine of its citizens are among the ship workers, but has not specified the number of other sailors on board.
Greece called Tehran's behaviour “tantamount to acts of piracy” and told citizens not to travel to Iran.
The IRGC, the ideological arm of Iran's military, said it took the tankers “due to violations”.
Iranian navy helicopters dropped armed men on to the tankers, Greek officials said.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Results for Stage 2
Stage 2 Yas Island to Abu Dhabi, 184 km, Road race
Overall leader: Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
Stage winners: 1. Fernando Gaviria COL (UAE Team Emirates) 2. Elia Viviani ITA (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) 3. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
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What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
