Iran guards driven off

London said yesterday that armed Iranian boats tried to “impede” a UK supertanker before being warned off by a British warship in a dramatic escalation in the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied involvement but also cautioned both the United States and Britain that they would “strongly regret” the UK Royal Marines’ detention of one of the Islamic republic’s own tankers off Gibraltar last week. The Gibraltar police brushed aside the warning and announced the arrest yesterday of both the Indian captain and officer of the seized Iranian tanker.

And President Donald Trump raised the US pressure by tweeting on Wednesday that sanctions against Iran over its stepped-up nuclear activities would be “increased substantially” soon. The rapid chain of events further complicates Britain and other European allies’ efforts to salvage a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran from which Washington pulled out more than a year ago. The UK defence ministry said three Iranian boats tried to “impede the passage” of a commercial vessel called British Heritage. The 274-metre (899-foot) tanker is owned by the British energy giant BP and can carry a million barrels of oil.

“HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away,” the ministry statement said. UK defence sources told British media that the Revolutionary Guards boats attempt to first stop and then divert the supertanker towards the Iranian shore. The UK warship then trained its guns on the Iranian boats and delivered a “cease and desist” message by radio. CNN reported that a US surveillance aircraft captured video footage of the episode from above.

“We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region,” a Downing Street spokesman said. The Times newspaper reported that Britain is now considering whether to send other naval resources to the Gulf. Sky News said the transport ministry had issued new guidance to all British-flagged commercial ships in recent days to go to a heightened state of security in the area.