UK in, Germany out of US Gulf patrol

Tehran says it can exit N-deal if necessary

LONDON, Aug 5, (RTRS): Britain said on Monday it was joining a US-led maritime security mission in the Gulf to protect merchant vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tanker traffic through the Strait has become a focus for an increasingly tense standoff between Washington and Tehran, into which Britain has also been dragged, and the United States has beefed up its military presence in the Gulf since May.

Last month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a British tanker, Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations. That came two weeks after Britain seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar, accusing it of violating sanctions on Syria.

“The UK is determined to ensure her shipping is protected from unlawful threats and for that reason we have today joined the new maritime security mission in the Gulf,” Defence Minister Ben Wallace told reporters.

“We look forward to working alongside the US and others to find an international solution to the problems in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Britain currently has deployed a destroyer HMS Duncan and a frigate HMS Montrose to the Gulf to accompany UKflagged vessels through the strait. So far, 47 ships have been accompanied by the naval vessels, British officials said.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday reiterated that Germany would not join a US-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that Berlin favoured a European mission but warned it was rather difficult to make progress on that.

“At the moment the Britons would rather join an American mission. We won’t do that,” Maas told reporters.

“We want a European mission,” he said, adding that the issue was not off the agenda but it would take time to convince the European Union to carry out such a mission.

The US Embassy in Berlin said on Tuesday the United States had asked Germany to join France and Britain in a mission to protect shipping through the strait and “combat Iranian aggression”. Germany rejected the request.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran would no longer tolerate “maritime offences” in the strait.

It has threatened to block all exports via the Strait, through which a fifth of global oil traffic passes, if other countries comply with US pressure to stop buying Iranian oil.

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said the latest move did not represent a change in approach to Iran and Britain remained committed to maintaining the 2015 nuclear deal agreed with Tehran in return for an easing of sanctions.

A British security source said the focus of the new mission would be protecting the security of shipping and Britain would not be joining US sanctions against Iran.

Security

Iran runs security in the Strait of Hormuz and will no longer tolerate “maritime offences” there, its foreign minister said on Monday, a day after it seized a second oil tanker near the strategic waterway that it accused of smuggling fuel.

Tanker traffic through the Strait has become a focus for an increasingly tense standoff between Washington and Tehran, into which Britain has also been dragged, and the United States has beefed up its military presence in the Gulf since May.

On Sunday, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps seized the Iraqi tanker north of the Strait and detained its seven crew, state media reported. Guards commander Ramezan Zirahi was quoted as saying it was carrying 700,000 litres of fuel.

“Iran used to forgo some maritime offences in ... (the) Gulf but will never close (its) eyes anymore,” Zarif told a televised news conference in Tehran.

“... Iran is responsible for the security and safety of the Strait of Hormuz and the region.”

Iran has threatened to block all exports via the Strait, through which a fifth of global oil traffic passes, if other countries comply with US pressure to stop buying Iranian oil.

Zarif criticised US sanctions imposed on him on Wednesday, saying Washington had closed the door to diplomacy over Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, which US President Donald Trump exited last year.

The deal with a handful of global powers had curbed Tehran’s nuclear work in return for an easing of sanctions, striking a delicate political balance that the US pullout has destabilised.

Strains between Washington and Tehran have heightened further since the spring. In June, Iran’s downing of a US drone prompted preparations for a US retaliatory air strike that Trump called off at the last minute.

“Iran will leave its 2015 nuclear deal with powers if necessary,” Zarif said on Monday, adding that all measures taken by Iran were however “reversible if its interests under the deal are secured.”

Iran has so far rejected calls by the Trump administration to negotiate a new deal.

Zarif called for improved ties with Iran’s rivals in the Middle East, where it has been involved in proxy wars for decades with Sunni Saudi Arabia.

He also labelled as “piracy” the seizure by Britain in July of an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar that London accused of violating sanctions on Syria.

Two weeks later, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a British tanker, Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations.