MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan held talks on Saturday with Hossein Amir Abdollahian, foreign affairs advisor to the Iranian parliament speaker, Iran’s Mehr news agency said.

The agency reported that the two men discussed bilateral relations, international issues and recent developments in the region, but did not elaborate.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said on Friday that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) (elite forces) seized the UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for "the violations of international maritime regulations." According to the IRGC, the tanker was escorted towards the shore for further investigation.

Swedish company Stena Bulk, the owner of the vessel, said that the crew of 23 sailors could not be contacted. A spokesperson for the company told TASS that three Russian sailors were onboard the tanker. Russia’s embassy in Tehran informed TASS that Stena Bulk’s representative confirmed "the information about three Russian sailors onboard.".