(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Associated Press reported.

A spokesperson for the British government said it was urgently seeking further information and assessing the situation following reports of an incident in the Gulf. The U.S. State Department referred questions to the U.K.

Brent climbed more than 1% on the news.

The Swedish owner of the Stena Impero said it “was approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the Strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters” at about 4pm London time. “We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran.”

The ship has 23 workers aboard.

Fears of a new conflict in the Middle East have risen over the past several weeks after a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, the downing of an American drone and the British seizure of a tanker carrying Iranian oil.

Iran and the U.S. have been at loggerheads since last year, when President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from a 2015 nuclear agreement that he called the “worst deal ever.” In May, the administration refused to extend waivers to eight governments for Iranian oil purchases, ratcheting up the pressure on the Islamic Republic’s already battered economy.

The 49,683 deadweight ton tanker, which typically carries refined products, was last heading to Jubail, Saudi Arabia, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from David Marino and Stephen Cunningham.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tina Davis in New York at tinadavis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Pratish Narayanan

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