Theresa May led a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee this morning after a UK-flagged tanker was seized in the Gulf.

The Stena Impero and her 23 crew members are being held by Iranian forces after they were taken on Friday while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. This was despite the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose, which is patrolling the Gulf to protect shipping, ordering the Iranian authorities to leave the vessel alone.

This morning the state-affiliated Fars news agency shared a photograph purporting to show some crew members being held under guard on the Stena Impero. Eighteen of the crew are Indian, including the captain. Three are Russian and the other two are from Latvia and the Philippines.

It came