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3 Iranian Boats Tried to Block British Tanker in Persian Gulf, U.K. Says
Iranian Boats Tried to Block British Tanker in Persian Gulf, U.K. Says
(32 minutes later)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Three Iranian vessels unsuccessfully tried to impede the passage of a British commercial vessel through the Strait of Hormuz, Britain said Thursday, signaling a further escalation of tensions over a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
LONDON — A British warship forced three Iranian boats to back off after they sought to block a British tanker from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday, in the latest escalation of tensions between Tehran and the West.
The Iranian vessels only turned away after receiving “verbal warnings” from a British Navy vessel accompanying a commercial vessel, the British Heritage, the British government said in a statement. “We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.”
“Contrary to international law, three Iranian vessels attempted to impede the passage of a commercial vessel, British Heritage, through the Strait of Hormuz,” the British government statement said. “We are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.”
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran denied the allegations, saying that if it had received orders to seize a ships, it would have executed them immediately.
The most recent escalation began in May, after the Trump administration implemented comprehensive sanctions intended to cut off all Iranian oil exports as part of an effort to pressure Tehran into accepting sweeping new restrictions on its military activities and its nuclear program.
The semiofficial Fars news agency carried a statement from the Revolutionary Guard’s Navy early Thursday saying “there were no clashes with alien boats, especially English boats.”
The United States was on the verge of launching a missile strike against Iran last month in retaliation for the shooting down of an American surveillance drone, but President Trump said he called off the military action at the last minute.
The episode was reported a day after President Hassan Rouhani of Iran warned that Britain would face “repercussions” over the seizure of an Iranian supertanker last week that authorities in Gibraltar suspect was breaching European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria.
Tensions between Tehran and London rose last week, when the British played a crucial role in the seizure of an Iranian tanker off the coast of Gibraltar as it was carrying oil bound for Syria, on suspicion that it was violating European Union sanctions. Iranian officials called the British seizure “an act of piracy.”
Mr. Rouhani was quoted by Iranian state media as saying the seizure was “mean and wrong.”
In its statement on Thursday, the British government said three Iranian boats had attempted to stop the British Heritage in the early morning as it headed toward the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage out of the Persian Gulf that is a vital channel for international oil supplies.
Iran had earlier summoned the British ambassador over what it called the “illegal interception” of the ship.
A British warship, the Montrose, had been escorting the tanker in an effort to guard against any Iranian interference. After a short standoff, the British warned the three Iranian boats to back away and they did, the British government said in its statement.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf over the nuclear deal have ratcheted up significantly in recent months. The United States withdrew from the nuclear accord last year, and the restoration of heavy sanctions on Iran, including those targeting its oil industry, has exacerbated an economic crisis that has sent the currency plummeting.
“H.M.S. 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 Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The United States has sent thousands of troops, an aircraft carrier, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets to the Middle East. That has led to fears are growing of a wider conflict after mysterious oil tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz attributed to Iran, attacks by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen on Saudi Arabia, and Iran’s downing of an American military drone.
Iran denied any attempt to stop the tanker, according to Iranian news agencies.
So far, the remaining parties to the nuclear deal — Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and the European Union — have been unable to meet Tehran’s demands for enough economic assistance to offset the American sanctions.
In recent weeks, Iran began breaching the limits of the deal, both on the permitted stockpile of low-enriched uranium and the permitted level of uranium enrichment.
It also set an early September deadline for world powers to save the agreement, saying it would otherwise take a third step in going beyond the deal’s limits.
Iran maintains it is justified in breaching the limitations because the United States withdrew from the deal last year.
