The British Navy has escorted at least two ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran threatened revenge against the United Kingdom for its seizure of an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar.
Five Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats approached a British crude oil tanker Wednesday at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz and requested it stop in nearby Iranian waters. “It was harassment and an attempt to interfere with the passage,” a U.S. official told Reuters. The Iranian boats withdrew after a British warship communicated a warning via radio.
The HMS Montrose destroyer and a mine hunter escorted the British-flagged Pacific Voyager oil tanker through the strait Monday, according to ship tracking data.
Britain’s defense ministry did not say whether escorts are part of a new policy in the region.
“The U.K. maintains a long-standing maritime presence in the Gulf,” a ministry spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “We are continuously monitoring the security situation there and are committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in accordance with international law.”
The British Navy has been involved in security operations in the Persian Gulf region since the start of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. Operation Kipion is an ongoing security mission in the Gulf responsible for “ensuring the safe flow of oil and trade.” The Montrose is the latest addition to the operation. The mine hunter’s transponder identified it as the HMS Ramsey, though that ship is reportedly on deployment in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. Four mine hunter vessels are permanently stationed in the region as part of the operation.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow 21-mile-wide waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. About 18.5 million barrels of oil travel through it daily, accounting for approximately 30% of the world’s sea-traded oil. The strait’s shipping lane is only three miles wide in some areas, making it particularly vulnerable.
British Royal Marines seized and impounded Iran’s Grace 1 oil tanker last Thursday after suspecting it was attempting to transport oil to Syria in violation of European Union and U.S. sanctions. The Iranian regime is a major source of support to Syrian President Bashar Assad as his regime continues to battle rebel forces. An Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander threatened to seize a British ship in response, and the Iranian defense minister warned of retaliation.
“These days we witnessed a threatening act from the government of England in the Strait of Gibraltar against a tanker from the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Amir Hatami said Monday. “This is an incorrect and wrong action, an action similar to maritime robbery. … Certainly these kind of robberies will not be tolerated.”
The Trump administration has proposed an international naval force to help protect ships against Iranian threats while passing through the strait. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reportedly sought to recruit U.S. allies for the force, known as Sentinel, though the United States will only provide intelligence support to foreign vessels, according to the the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Escorting in the normal course of events would be done by countries who have the same flag, so a ship that is flagged from a particular country would be escorted by that country,” Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford told reporters Tuesday. “The United States is uniquely capable of providing is some of the command and control, some of the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. But the expectation is the actual [security] patrolling and escorts would be done by others.”
The Iranian parliament is considering charging foreign ships a toll to pass through the strait. The proposal was described as “a form of extortion” by former U.S. Navy officer and Heritage Foundation fellow Thomas Callender in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been on the rise since May, when the Trump administration began increasing its military presence in the region in response to Iranian threats against U.S. forces. The Pentagon has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the region, in addition to troops, bomber aircraft, and Patriot missile defense batteries.
