Vulnerable vessels expose UK as long leadership race takes its toll

The way in which Iran has targeted British-linked vessels in the Arabian Gulf has raised concerns in London about an absence of leadership at the top of government.

News the Stena Impero, a British-flagged ship owned by a Swedish company, was seized by Iran unsettled UK officials, as did reports the

Mesdar, a Liberian-flagged tanker owned by a Scottish company, was approached by Iranian forces.

That came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed Britain’s seizure of Iranian supertanker Grace 1 at Gibraltar due to suspicions it was taking oil to Syria in breach of sanctions was piracy.

Only hours after a Gibraltar court extended the detention of the tanker, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps scrambled a helicopter and intercepted the two Britishlinked ships.

Leading British MPs and former military figures said the incident exposed the UK.

Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was worried the

protracted race to succeed Theresa May as prime minister was taking a toll.

He gave a warning that “whoever walks into No 10 [Downing Street] on Wednesday, the hiatus in power in the UK has gone on too long”. The UK was being tested by both its friends and its enemies, he said.

“The UK cannot afford to look weak. We must stand up to bullies because the threats only increase if we are not robust against aggression,” Mr Tugendhat said.

In the Arabian Gulf, Britain has for weeks been at the eye of a storm. HMS Montrose, the frigate permanently stationed in Bahrain, was forced to fend off IRGC fast boat aggression as it escorted BP-owned tanker

British Heritage through the Strait of Hormuz 10 days ago. British officials said the HMS

Montrose responded to the incident on Friday, changing course and moving at 20 nautical miles to assist the Stena Impero from Oman’s waters but arrived too late to challenge the Iranians as they forced the ship into their own territory.

London announced that the far larger naval destroyer HMS

Duncan would travel to the region to reinforce its patrols.

HMS Kent, another frigate, has also been ordered to patrol the area but won’t arrive for some time.

Lord West, a former head of the British Navy, said on Friday the decision to send those ships was too little and too late.

He said he was astonished the British-linked vessels in the Gulf shipping channels were not being given an escort as a matter of routine.

UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was wrapping up his Conservative leadership bid as news broke that the Stena

Impero had been seized. He attended a late-night meeting of Cobra, the British emergency group comprised of officials and military chiefs.

Afterwards, Mr Hunt said the UK’s response to Iran would be “considered and robust” and said the UK was committed to the protection of its ships. The message from Whitehall was a mixed one.

The UK government said on Friday that British ships were advised to stay clear of Iranian waters for an interim period.

Boris Johnson, the favourite to replace Mrs May, watched the unfolding events in silence. He was tested and found wanting by Iran when he mishandled the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

In a rare admission of personal responsibility, he conceded he was haunted by her detention in a Tehran prison on spying charges.