THERESA May today urged Iran to “de-escalate” tensions after a Royal Navy warship trained its guns on three Revolutionary Guard vessels.
HMS Montrose intervened after the Iranian boats tried to intercept a British oil tanker British Heritage in the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
The Type 23, Duke-class frigate, which was escorting the commercial ship, put itself between the tanker and Iranian boats, whose crews wanted the tanker to move into Iranian waters.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said today: “We are concerned by what happened last night and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region.”
He added: “Contrary to international law, three Iranian vessels attempted to impede the passage of a commercial vessel, the British Heritage, through the Strait of Hormuz.
“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.
“We have a longstanding maritime presence in the Gulf. We are continuously monitoring the security situation there and are committed to maintaining freedom of navigation in accordance with international law.
"The Department for Transport “regularly provides security advice to UK shopping on how they should operate in areas of high risk.”
Shadow Defence Secretary Ni Griffith said: “This is a very concerning incident which highlights the worrying escalation of tensions that we have seen in recent months.
“We should all be very grateful to the men and women of HMS Montrose who were able to intervene and ensure that this situation was resolved peacefully.”
