British warships sent to Gulf amid rising tensions over seized tanker

British warships and a military tanker sent to Gulf after Iran’s supreme leader threatened retaliation over seizure of their ship.

The British warship HMS Montrose (pictured docked in the Cypriot port of Limassol) is currently in the Gulf. Picture: AFP.

A third British warship and a military tanker are being sent to the Gulf — a move that comes after Iran’s supreme leader threatened retaliation against the UK over the seizure of a tanker.

The Type 23 frigate HMS Kent is due to be dispatched in September and Wave Knight, a tanker from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, will arrive next month.

A senior defence source said that both deployments had been long-planned as part of Operation Kipion, the UK’s maritime presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean, and insisted they were not related to Iran’s aggressive behaviour near the Strait of Hormuz.

Operation Kipion aims to promote peace and stability in the region, and to ensure the safe flow of oil and trade. It involves counter-terrorism, counterpiracy and counternarcotics missions.

Ministers have stressed their desire to de-escalate tensions with Iran, but the build-up of military is likely to be interpreted in a more hawkish light by Tehran. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that reprisals would follow the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar this month, despite Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, offering to return the ship in exchange for promises not to breach EU sanctions.

“The vicious British government committed piracy and attacked our ship; they commit crimes and legalise it,” Iran’s supreme leader tweeted. “The Islamic Republic and the believing members of the establishment will not leave such acts without a response.”

The seizure of the Grace 1 led to an encounter between a Royal Navy frigate and Iranian Revolutionary Guards after the Iranians tried to intercept a British tanker in retaliation.

Mr Hunt’s offer to Iran’s foreign minister faces a challenge. Lawyers for Shurat Hadin, an Israeli group with links to the intelligence agency Mossad, is seeking an injunction in the Supreme Court of Gibraltar to seize the vessel and its cargo. They want them used to pay damages for the victims of terrorist acts allegedly sponsored by Iran.

A new crisis could be about to erupt in the Gulf after a US defence official said that Washington “has suspicions” that Tehran had seized an oil tanker based in the United Arab Emirates. MT Riah turned off its tracker two days ago while crossing the Strait of Hormuz and is said to have made no contact with its owners or the UAE authorities.

It is now in Iranian territorial waters near Qeshm Island, where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has a base.

The Iranian foreign ministry said it had helped a tanker suffering a technical defect and that Iranian troops were sent “after receiving a request for assistance”. The tanker was taken to Iranian waters to make repairs “in accordance with international rules,” it said.

The US official told Associated Press: “Could it have broken down or been towed for assistance? That’s a possibility. But the longer there is a period of no contact, it’s going to be a concern.”

The dispatch of HMS Kent comes after the Royal Navy said it was re-tasking HMS Duncan, a type 45 destroyer that is one of the world’s most advanced warships, to deploy near Iranian waters and shadow British merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The Duncan will overlap with HMS Montrose, which is now in the Gulf but will be undertaking maintenance.

The Times