Syrian media reported a major explosion and a fire on civilian ship docked at Latakia Port on the country's northwest coast on Tuesday afternoon.

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Syrian state TV reported that firefighters had the fire under control and that two people had suffered minor injuries in the incident. The SANA news agency quoted port director Amjad Suleiman saying that the ship had docked for maintenance work and was empty at the time of the blast.

Alarabiya TV journalist Ziad Halabi reported that the ship was an Iranian oil tanker that had docked in Latakia a few days ago.

The Syrian Human Rights Observatory reported that the explosion had caused a number of wounded and extensive damage to the vessel.

Thus far, there were no claims that the explosion or the fire had been the result of sabotage.

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The disappearance of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, follows a pattern of Iranian oil tankers turning off their Automatic Identification System to try and mask where they deliver their cargo amid US sanctions targeting Iran's energy industry.

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US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal and the imposition of heavy economic sanctions on Iran have blocked it from selling its crude oil abroad, a crucial source of government funding for the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, tensions have spiked across the Persian Gulf over mysterious tanker explosions, the shooting down of a US military surveillance drone by Iran and America deploying more troops and warplanes to the region.

The Adrian Darya, which carries 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude worth some $130 million, switched off its AIS beacon just before 4 p.m. GMT Monday, according to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com. The ship was some 45 nautical miles (83 kilometers) off the coast of Lebanon and Syria, heading north at its last report.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had alleged the US had intelligence that the Adrian Darya would head to the Syrian port of Tartus, just a short distance from its last reported position.

The actions of the Adrian Darya follow a pattern of other Iranian ships turning off their trackers once they reach near Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, said Ranjith Raja, a lead analyst at the data firm Refinitiv.

Based on the fact Turkey has stopped taking Iranian crude oil and Syria historically has taken around 1 million barrels of crude oil a month from Iran, Raja said it was likely the ship would be offloading its cargo in Syria. That could see it transfer crude oil on smaller vessels, allowing it to be taken to port, he said.

"The Iranian oil going to Syria is not something new," Raja said. "This is a known fact."

The oil shipment website Tanker Trackers similarly believes the Adrian Darya to be off Syria.

"It is now safe to assume [the ship] is in Syria's territorial waters," Tanker Trackers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Iranian officials haven't identified who bought the Adrian Darya's cargo, only that it has been sold.

The US, which has sought to seize the tanker, alleged in federal court that the ship is owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US recently declared the Guard a terrorist organization, giving it greater power to pursue seizing its assets.

US officials have since warned countries not to aid the Adrian Darya, which previously said it would be heading to Greece and Turkey before turning off its tracker Monday. Authorities in Gibraltar alleged the ship was bound for a refinery in Baniyas, Syria when they seized it in early July. They ultimately let it go after holding it for weeks.

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The comment by President Hassan Rouhani coincided with a remark by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that Tehran might act "unpredictably" in response to "unpredictable" US policies under President Donald Trump.

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"World powers know that in the case that oil is completely sanctioned and Iran's oil exports are brought down to zero, international waterways can't have the same security as before," Rouhani said while meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Khamenei's official website.

"So unilateral pressure against Iran can't be to their advantage and won't guarantee their security in the region and the world."

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration last year quit an international deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and began to ratchet up sanctions. Tehran has denounced the new penalties as "economic warfare."

In a speech at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Zarif appeared to echo Rouhani's tone.

"Mutual unpredictability will lead to chaos. President Trump cannot expect to be unpredictable and expect others to be predictable. Unpredictability will lead to mutual unpredictability and unpredictability is chaotic," Zarif said.

Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent months after a series of attacks on international merchant vessels, which the United States has blamed on Iran and an Iranian seizure of a British oil tanker. Tehran has denied accusations that it was behind attacks on six tankers in May and June.

Washington, which has by far the strongest Western naval contingent in the Gulf, has been calling for its allies to join it in an operation to guard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital gateway for the world's oil industry.

So far, Britain, Australia, and Bahrain have joined the US-led security mission to protect merchant vessels traveling through key Middle East waterways.

Reiterating Iran's chilly response to the security mission, Iranian Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, a deputy commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, said no one can secure the Gulf other than Iran and countries of the region, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

"Securing the Persian Gulf is the responsibility of Iran and the countries of the region," Fadavi said. "Other than us, no one can secure the Persian Gulf."

Erik Hanell, the owner of the British-flagged tanker detained by Iran while entering the Gulf, met Zarif in Stockholm on Aug. 20 to make the case for the ship and its crew to be freed.

The Stena Impero was diverted to an Iranian port on July 19, two weeks after Britain detained an Iranian tanker off the territory of Gibraltar. That ship was released this week.

"A constructive dialogue was had and we shared information around the case," Hanell, chief executive of Stena Bulk, said in a statement on Wednesday. "It was important for us to emphasize the importance of the release of the 23 crew. ... Also for the release of the Swedish-owned vessel Stena Impero."

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Foremost among the areas to be patrolled in the Strait of Hormuz, between Oman and Iran, through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne crude oil flows out of the Gulf.

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Global commodity trading has been rocked in recent months by the seizure of the British tanker and a series of attacks on international merchant vessels that the US and Britain have blamed on Iran, though it denies any involvement. Britain this month became the first US ally to announce its participation.

"This destabilizing behavior is a threat to Australia's interests in the region," Morrison told a news conference in Canberra. "Our contribution will be limited in scope and it will be time-bound."

Morrison said that Australia would send a P-8A Poseidon surveillance plane to the Middle East for one month before the end of 2019, while an Australian frigate would be deployed for six months from January.

Australia is a staunch ally of the United States, which in recent months has urged partners to do more for global security.

Iran has denounced US efforts to set up the coalition and insisted countries in the region can protect waterways and work toward signing a non-aggression pact.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday told the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: "No amount of foreign military presence can prevent insecurity in this region. You cannot have an island of security ... while the US is waging an economic war against Iran."

The Gulf state of Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, became the first Arab country to announce it would join the new mission this week, through a tweet from its ambassador to the United States.

Sources briefed on the US plan had told Reuters that foreign participation could include anything from sending vessels and personnel to offering bases, logistical support, liaison officers or financing.

Bahrain already serves as headquarters to the US-led Combined Maritime Forces, a 33-nation alliance that carries out security and anti-piracy operations in the region.

Most European countries, which disagree with a US decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran, have been reluctant to sign up to the US-led mission for fear of adding to the tensions in the region.

US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington in 2018 from a big-power deal that had scrapped international sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.

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The Stena Impero was intercepted late Friday by Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard forces. The ship's owner, Stena Bulk, said the vessel was stopped by "unidentified small crafts and a helicopter" during its transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel was seized with a crew of 23 crew aboard, although none are British nationals.

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In a dramatic video released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, several small Guard boats can be seen surrounding the larger tanker as it moves through the strait. Above, a military helicopter hovers and then several men wearing black masks begin to rappel onto the ship.

The high-quality video was shot with at least two cameras, one from a speed boat-like vessel and one from the chopper, which captured the fatigue-clad men as they prepared to slide down a rope and also took aerial footage of the tanker.

The British government's emergency response committee COBRA discussed the situation at length and a statement will be made to parliament on Monday on further measures Britain will take, he told reporters.

Hunt warned Tehran there would be "serious consequences" should the Shiite republic refuse to release the ship from its custody.

A spokesperson later said in a statement that the British government remains "in close contact with our international partners and there will be further meetings over the weekend."

The seizure prompted condemnation from the UK and its European allies as they continue to call for a de-escalation of tensions in the critical waterway.

On Twitter, Saturday, Hunt said he spoke with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and expressed extreme disappointment that the Iranian diplomat had assured him Iran wanted to de-escalate the situation but "they have behaved in the opposite way."

British ministers are making plans aimed at targeting Iran with sanctions in the aftermath of the Iranian seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

Britain could push for UN and EU sanctions to be reimposed on Iran after they had been lifted in 2016 following a deal on Iran's nuclear program, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph's report.

Britain told the UN Security Council late on Saturday that a British-flagged tanker seized by Iran was approached by Iranian forces when it was in Omani territorial waters and the action "constitutes illegal interference."

"The ship was exercising the lawful right of transit passage in an international strait as provided for under international law," Britain's UN mission wrote to the Security Council. "International law requires that the right of transit passage shall not be impeded, and therefore the Iranian action constitutes illegal interference."

The letter, seen by Reuters, was also sent to UN Secretary General António Guterres.

Friday's action in the global oil trade's most important waterway has been viewed in the West as a major escalation after three months of confrontation that has already taken Iran and the United States to the brink of war.

It follows threats from Tehran to retaliate for Britain's seizure on July 4 of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, accused of violating sanctions on Syria.

"Current tensions are extremely concerning, and our priority is to de-escalate. We do not seek confrontation with Iran," the letter read. "But it is unacceptable and highly escalatory to threaten shipping going about its legitimate business through internationally recognized transit corridors."

Britain called on Iran to release the Stena Impero tanker and told the Security Council it was working to resolve the issue through diplomatic means.

Iran said its seizure of the British oil tanker was in response to Britain's role in impounding an Iranian supertanker first, senior officials said Saturday, as newly released video of the incident showed Iranian commandos in black ski masks and fatigues rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The free flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is of international importance because one-fifth of all global crude exports passes through the waterway from Mideast exporters to countries around the world. The narrow waterway sits between Iran and Oman.

Hunt said the ship's seizure shows worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous and destabilizing path. He also defended the British-assisted seizure of Iran's supertanker two weeks ago as a "legal" move because the vessel was suspected of breaching European Union sanctions on oil shipments to Syria.

Iranian officials "see this as a tit-for-tat situation, following Grace1 being detained in Gibraltar. Nothing could be further from the truth," Hunt said later Saturday.

The view from Iran was different.

In comments on Twitter on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif characterized the seizure of Iran's tanker July 4 as "piracy."

He claimed the confiscation of British-flagged oil tanker The Stena Impero by Iranian forces is to "uphold international maritime rules."

In another Tweet, Zarif referred to an interview with himself for News Hour that took place in New York on Friday. He wrote, "The people and government of Iran have nothing against the American people. All we want is for no one to interfere in our internal affairs."

Politician and former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezai wrote that Iran was not seeking conflict, "but we are not going to come up short in reciprocating."

The spokesman for Iran's Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, was also quoted in the semi-official Fars news agency describing Friday's seizure as a legal "reciprocal action." The council rarely comments on state matters, but when it does it is seen as a reflection of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's views.

The tit-for-tat move by Iran drew condemnation from European signatories to Iran's nuclear accord with world powers. Germany and France both called on Iran to immediately release the ship and its crew, with Berlin saying the seizure undermines all efforts to find a way out of the current crisis.

Europe has struggled to contain tensions following US President Donald Trump's decision to pull Washington from a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for compliance on its nuclear program.

Trump has since reimposed sweeping sanctions on Iran, including its oil exports, and Iran recently increased uranium enrichment levels beyond limits of the deal in a bid to pressure Europe into finding a workaround the crippling economic sanctions.

Britain, which remains a signatory to the nuclear accord, has figured prominently in rising US tensions with Iran ever since Royal Marines took part in the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker by Gibraltar, a British overseas territory off the southern coast of Spain. Officials there initially said the July 4 seizure happened on orders from the US

Britain has said it would release the vessel, which was carrying more than 2 million barrels of Iranian crude, if Iran could prove it was not breaching EU sanctions. However, a court in Gibraltar just Friday extended the detention of the Panama-flagged Grace 1.

Stena Bulk, the owner of the seized British tanker, said the vessel's crew members are of Indian, Filipino, Russian and Latvian nationalities. Iranian officials say the crew remains on the tanker.

Britain's Defense Secretary Penny Mordaunt told Sky News the takeover was a "hostile act" by Iran. She said a British Royal Navy frigate deployed to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz was roughly 60 minutes from the scene when the Iranians took control of the tanker.

That same frigate had previously warned off Iranian Guard vessels from impeding the passage of a British commercial vessel the navy was escorting through the Strait of Hormuz.

There are concerns that with each new maneuver a misunderstanding or misstep by either side could lead to war. In June, Iran shot down an American drone in the same waterway, and Trump came close to retaliating with airstrikes.

The US has increased its military presence in the Persian Gulf region in recent weeks, with Washington set to send more than 500 as well as aircraft and air defense missiles to Iran's rival, Saudi Arabia.

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