Iran set to release Swedish tanker

Stockholm: A Swedish-owned oil tanker held by Iran in the Gulf is to be released, the shipowner said on Sunday, two months after it was seized amid heightened tensions in the region. “We received information this morning indicating that the ship Stena Impero is going to be released in a few hours,” Erik Hanell, the chief executive of the Stena Bulk company that owns the ship, told Swedish television SVT. Contacted by AFP, a Stena Bulk spokeswoman, Lena Alvling, confirmed Hanell´s remarks but said the ship had still not be freed, several hours later. “We have nothing new to report,” she said. The ship has been held offshore near Iran´s southern port of Bandar Abbas. Hanell had expressed caution about the tanker´s release.