Sweden has received "very strong indications" that a British oil tanker seized last month by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is to be released soon, Swedish public service broadcaster SVT reported on Thursday, citing sources within Sweden's foreign ministry.

Australia has joined Britain and Bahrain in signing onto a U.S.-led maritime security mission to protect international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran, the prime minister said Wednesday.

King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa announced his country's participation in a military mission to guarantee the freedom of maritime navigation in the Gulf region.

An Iranian tanker at the center of an angry confrontation between Iran and Washington sailed for Greece on Monday after it was freed from detention off Gibraltar, as Washington called the release unfortunate and warned Greece and Mediterranean ports against helping the vessel.

A U.S. court has issued a warrant for the seizure of an Iranian tanker that British Royal Marines had seized last month in Gibraltar, a court document showed on Friday.

Gibraltar's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favour of releasing an Iranian supertanker seized on suspicion of shipping oil to war-torn Syria in breach of international sanctions, in a blow to the United States which had tried to block the vessel's departure.

The British territory of Gibraltar will on Thursday release an Iranian oil tanker seized by Royal Marines in the Mediterranean in July, the Sun newspaper reported, citing sources close to Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran and other Gulf states could protect the region's security and foreign forces were not needed, state TV reported, repeating a longstanding rejection of a U.S. maritime security mission in the region.

A highly placed Gibraltarian government source denied on Tuesday an Iranian news agency report which said the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 would be leaving the British overseas territory on Tuesday.

Iran on Thursday hit out at Bahrain for hosting a "provocative" conference on Gulf maritime security and for its "anti-Iran" rhetoric accusing Tehran of attacking tankers in sensitive waters.

Reprieve called on its supporters to sign a petition raised to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanding him to interfere and call Bahrain to re-try the torture victim and death convict Maher Al-Khabbaz.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed in a phone call with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa UK's commitment to the Iran nuclear deal.

Britain on Monday joined the United States in a maritime security mission in the Gulf to protect merchant vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Iran was ready for the worst in an uphill struggle to salvage its nuclear deal with world powers abandoned by the United States, but that he was sure Tehran would eventually prevail.

Bahrain hosted a conference on Gulf maritime security on Wednesday, after multiple attacks on shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz sent tensions soaring between Iran and the US.

Bahraini dissident Mousa Abed Ali climbed onto the Bahraini embassy rooftop in London in protest against the imminent execution of Ahmad Al-Malali and Ali Al-Arab.

Britain has started sending a warship to accompany all British-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a change in policy announced on Thursday after the government previously said it did not have resources to do so.

British ministers signed off nearly £650m worth of arms license exports to Saudi Arabia in the six months following the brutal murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi by regime forces, The Independent newspaper said.

The Swedish-based operator of the British-flagged tanker seized last week by Iran said on Tuesday it was still awaiting permission to visit the ship's 23 crew members.

Gibraltar was granted the power on Friday to detain Iran's Grace 1 oil tanker for another month, keeping the vessel at the center of a big-power quarrel between Iran and the United States and its allies.