Iran demands that Britain immediately releases oil tanker

Britain is sending a second warship to the Middle East to bolster its presence in the Gulf amid an escalating crisis with Iran.

HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, will replace HMS Montrose in the region as Tehran threatens to retaliate against British shipping in the region after Royal Marines seized an oil tanker off Gibraltar last week. 

The UK is also in discussions with the US about building a multi-national coalition in the Gulf in the face of the stand-off.  

Montrose has already had to confront three Iranian vessels in the region, Britain says, as Iran warned today that the UK will be ‘slapped in the face’ for ‘daring’ to capture the ship.  

Britain’s capture of the Grace 1 was ‘not valid’, Tehran’s foreign ministry said, adding: ‘This is a dangerous game and has consequences.’ 

Tensions are already spiralling in the Middle East amid exchanges of angry rhetoric between America and Iran and the breakdown of the 2015 nuclear deal. 

Theresa May’s deputy spokeswoman said: ‘We are talking to the US about building on our presence in the face of recent threats to shipping in the area.’

Iran has demanded the release of the supertanker Grace 1 (pictured off the coast of Gibraltar last week) after it was seized by British Royal Marines 

The details of the HMS Duncan which has been sent to the Middle East amid an escalating stand-off with Iran 

HMS Montrose was forced to act against the patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz as it attempted to ‘impede’ the passage of BP-operated tanker British Heritage. 

The Duncan, which was most recently in Ukraine in a maritime training exercise, was always meant to relieve the smaller frigate Montrose in the Middle East. 

However, the move is understood to have been brought forward by a number of days amid the latest crisis.  

A Government spokeswoman said: ‘As part of our long-standing presence in the Gulf, HMS Duncan is deploying to the region to ensure we maintain a continuous maritime security presence while HMS Montrose comes off task for pre-planned maintenance and crew change over.

‘This will ensure that the UK alongside international partners can continue to support freedom of navigation for vessels transiting through this vital shipping lane.’ 

Two more officers from the seized Iranian tanker were also arrested today, a day after Gibraltar police detained the captain and chief officer. All four men are Indian nationals.  

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said today that ‘this is a time for cool heads’ to make sure there is no ‘unintended escalation’.

‘The reason that the Grace 1 was seized was because of the destination. It was going to Syria, it was a clear breach of sanctions – it wasn’t because it was coming from Iran,’ Mr Hunt said. 

‘This is a situation that’s changing every hour but we are reacting to what is happening in a measured and careful way and we are being clear to Iran that we are not seeking to escalate the situation.’ 

Defence sources have said that Britain is willing to take ‘precautionary measures’ to protect freedom of navigation in the Gulf. 

Gibraltar’s government also denied claims today that it had seized the supertanker at America’s request, insisting it acted ‘totally independently’.   

The HMS Montrose (pictured in this diagram) has already had to confront Iranian vessels 

Tehran blames the U.S. for arranging the seizure – Spain, which challenges Britain’s sovereignty of Gibraltar, appeared to echo those claims, saying Washington had requested the Royal Marines’ intervention. 

But Gibraltar today dismissed those claims. 

‘The decisions of Her Majesty’s government of Gibraltar were taken totally independently, based on breaches of existing law and not at all based on extraneous political considerations,’ Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said. 

‘These important decisions about breaches of our laws were not decisions taken at the political behest or instruction of any other state or third party.  

Iran has threatened to retaliate and matters worsened yesterday when Britain said Iranian vessels had tried to block a UK-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Ministry of Defence said three Iranian vessels had tried to block the British Heritage but backed off after they were confronted by the Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose. 

The Middle East stand-off worsened yesterday when Britain said Iranian vessels had tried to block UK-flagged tanker British Heritage (file photo) in the Straits of Hormuz

The Montrose ‘was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessel,’ Britain said.  

Tehran denied its vessels had done any such thing.  

The UK raised its security level for British shipping sailing in Iranian waters to its highest level, level three, meaning an incident is considered to be imminent. 

Vessels have been advised to take enhanced security measures and to avoid transiting through Iranian waters if at all possible. 

As well as the Montrose, the Navy has four mine countermeasures vessels and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay logistics ship in the region. 

With typically between 15 and 30 British-flagged merchant ships in Gulf waters on any one day, providing individual escorts has been ruled out. 

A diagram showing recent military movements and attacks in the tense Middle East region

The latest crisis erupted when British authorities intercepted the Grace 1 eight days ago, saying it was violating EU sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to Syria.    

A detachment of Royal Marines from 42 Commando boarded the vessel off Gibraltar in a joint operation with the Royal Gibraltar Police. 

Gibraltar’s government said tests showed the supertanker was fully loaded with crude oil. 

But Iran has insisted that the tanker was not headed for Syria.  

Deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the Iranian tanker’s ‘destination was not Syria’. 

He added that there was no law allowing authorities in Gibraltar to stop the tanker and called it ‘piracy’. 

The British government said HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate, positioned itself between the Iranian boats and the tanker and ordered them to back down 

A British Royal Navy ship patrols near supertanker Grace 1 off the coast of Gibraltar on Saturday. Iran has denied that the ship was heading for Syria 

Britain’s ambassador in Tehran, Rob Macaire, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry to explain the UK government’s actions. 

Tankers in the Gulf have already come under attack in recent weeks, in explosions which Britain and America have blamed on Iran.  

A UAE investigation found four mysterious sabotage attacks on May 12 were linked to a ‘state actor’ but did not name Iran. 

The attacks were carried out with limpet mines and were ‘part of a sophisticated and coordinated operation’, the report found. 

The tanker attacks inflamed an already tense Middle East stand-off and prompted the U.S. to bolster its military presence in the region. 

Operation: British Royal Marines taking part in the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker in the early hours of last Thursday morning 

Matters worsened just four weeks later when another two ships were hit by explosions in the Gulf of Oman.  

Forty-four sailors were forced to abandon their ships amid a huge fireball on the MT Front Altair and another blast on the Kokuka Courageous. 

America again blamed Iran, releasing a video which purported to show Iranian revolutionary guard forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the ships. 

The row also comes amid heightening Middle East tensions after Iran yesterday threatened to move further away from its 2015 nuclear deal. 

Tehran said on Monday that it could restart deactivated centrifuges and ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20 per cent. 

But Major General Hossein Salami, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, denied Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapon.