After May snubbed Trump – then EU snubbed us... Now Navy will join forces with US to protect ships in Gulf
BRITAIN will join forces with the US to protect merchant shipping against threats from Iran, the Ministry of Defence said last night.
The new ‘maritime security mission’ is a sharp change of approach – coming barely two weeks after then foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Royal Navy would try to form an alliance with European partners instead.
But after several weeks in which EU countries refused to join in, ministers have turned to the US.
The move follows the seizure last month of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero by Iranian Republican Guards. At the time critics accused Theresa May of a ‘major failure’ for not accepting offers of help from the US.
Last night Mr Hunt’s successor, Dominic Raab, insisted the decision to join the US did not represent a shift in UK policy on the Iran nuclear deal.
Britain, along with the EU, supports the 2015 agreement which gives Iran relief from economic sanctions as long as it curbs its nuclear programme – a deal the US withdrew from last year.
Mr Raab said: ‘Our aim is to build the broadest international support to uphold freedom of navigation in the region, as protected under international law.
‘ Our approach to Iran hasn’t changed. We remain committed to working with Iran and our international partners to de-escalate the situation and maintain the nuclear deal.’
British officials suggested they still hoped other countries, including EU nations, would join the effort.
Last week Germany rejected pressure to send warships to the region. Vice-Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country would not take part in a USled naval taskforce and warned of the danger of the world ‘sleepwalking into a much larger conflict’.
There are currently two British warships in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping lane where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized the Stena Impero on July 19.
The HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate, and HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, have escorted 47 ships safely past Iranian waters. But the Montrose is due to return to the UK for maintenance later this year.
The US, which has been building up forces in the region, has committed two warships to the mission as well as aerial surveillance.
Tensions rose after Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions. Since then Iranian forces have been accused of planting limpet mines on two tankers.
It stepped up hostile actions after Royal Marines seized an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar last month for breaching sanctions.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: ‘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.
‘Upholding freedom of passage is in all our interests. The deployment of Royal Navy assets is a sign of our commitment to our UK-flagged vessels and we look forward to working alongside the US and others to find an international solution to the problems in the Strait of Hormuz.’
Tehran has been seeking to put pressure on other signatories to the deal to get the Americans to lift sanctions which have been crippling the economy.
It has led to a series of incidents including the shooting down of a US drone. Yesterday Iran said it had seized an Iraqi tanker it accused of ‘smuggling fuel’.
‘Sleepwalking into a larger conflict’