Hunt set to freeze Iran assets after it taunts UK
MINISTERS are drawing up plans to target the Iranian regime with sanctions after its forces seized a British-flagged tanker in the Gulf.
Jeremy Hunt is expected to use a Commons statement tomorrow to announce a package of diplomatic and economic measures, including possible asset freezes, in response to the capture of the Stena Impero.
The UK could also push for European Union and United Nations sanctions to be reimposed on the regime after they were lifted in 2016 as part of a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, which saw billions of dollars of assets unfrozen and allowed the country’s oil to be sold internationally.
Following a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee yesterday, the Foreign Secretary said the seizure of the Stena Impero raised “very serious questions” about the security of British and international vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
The move comes as Theresa May faced heavy criticism from Whitehall officials for failing to agree to an earlier US offer to join a new “coalition of navies”, called Operation Sentinel, designed to co-ordinate an international effort to monitor and protect ships in the Gulf region. One Whitehall source said military figures saw the invitation as an “excellent opportunity” but Downing Street “wasn’t backing them up” because of concern that the UK could be seen as supporting Donald Trump’s hard-line approach to Iran.
Another insisted that because the coalition had yet to formally materialise, Mrs May could not be blamed for an absence of military protection to prevent Iranian forces from approaching and boarding the vessel.
Yesterday dramatic footage purporting to be of the Stena Impero being boarded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards emerged, showing the tanker being followed by smaller vessels and combat troops being lowered from a helicopter. The vessel was spotted yesterday in Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, where its Russian, Ukrainian, Indian, Latvian and Filipino crew were being questioned.
Penny Mordaunt, the Defence Secretary, said that the British Type-23 frigate HMS Montrose was an hour away from being able to help. She described the incident as a “hostile act”, and yesterday Mohsen Omidzamani, Iran’s charge d’affaires, was summoned to the Foreign Office.
Mr Hunt, who spoke to Mohammad Javad Zarif, his Iranian counterpart yesterday, said Tehran saw the move as “tit for tat” after British authorities seized the Iranian Grace 1 tanker off Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion of carrying crude to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” Mr Hunt said.
The Foreign Secretary told reporters that MPs would be updated tomorrow. It is understood that ministers are considering economic and diplomatic measures, including asset freezes and a co-ordinated effort with allies at the UN this week. The UK will also step up efforts to protect vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to The Washington Post the Government asked Mike Pompeo,
the US secretary of state, to hold back from comments that might further inflame the situation, while London tries to resolve the crisis through diplomacy.
Yesterday’s Cobra meeting was chaired by David Lidington as Mrs May spent her final weekend as Prime Minister in her Maidenhead constituency.
A Whitehall source said that British officials were “embarrassed” that they had been “unable to look after our own”. The source criticised Mrs May for delaying a decision over whether to join the US-led coalition in the Gulf.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn called for the tanker to be released and suggested the US was to blame for escalating tensions. The Labour leader wrote on Twitter: “Trump tearing up the Iran nuclear deal has fuelled confrontation. Its negotiated reinstatement is essential to defuse threat of war in the Gulf.”
Mr Hunt replied that the tanker was seized “following Gibraltarian enforcement of EU sanctions” and was “nothing to do” with the US President.
Mr Hunt said the vessel was seized “in clear contravention of international law … then forced to sail into Iran. This is totally and utterly unacceptable.”
Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, the head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, said that Iran did not want to start a war with the US or its allies, saying: “The outcome would be very horrific for all.”