Dangerous
Iran said it was “reciprocal action” for the British capture of an Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, off Gibraltar earlier this month, on suspicion of sanctions-busting.
Last night, state TV footage showed the Iranian flag hoisted provocatively over the seized tanker.
On Saturday, Mr Hunt described Iran’s actions as “totally and utterly unacceptable”, raising “very serious questions” about the security of British and international shipping in the Strait.
But he added: “Our priority continues to be to find a way to de-escalate the situation.”
Urging restraint, Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Hamid Baeidinejad, tweeted: “UK Government should contain those domestic political forces who want to escalate existing tension between Iran and the UK well beyond the issue of ships.
“This is quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region.” The next prime minister is likely to find his hands tied militarily by decades of cuts which have left Britain with too small a force to escort every UK-flagged ship.
Although HMS Duncan will double the number of UK warships in the area, HMS Montrose is due to go into port for a long-planned period of maintenance.
Britain has four small mine counter-measure vessels in the Gulf, but will almost certainly have to work with America to protect shipping.
Another option is heavily armed Royal Marines on oil tankers – a tactic used on cargo ships when piracy was at its height off Somalia.
A nuclear-powered Royal Navy submarine which can monitor Republican Guard activity from hundreds of miles away is already thought to be conducting surveillance operations in the region.
US missile systems have the coordinates of every Republican Guard base pre-programmed and could flatten them in minutes.
Special Forces are on standby, but sending them into Iran is extremely high risk. In 1980, a US attempt to send in elite troops to rescue the Tehran hostages left eight servicemen dead. Britain’s preferred path is to use economic and diplomatic pressure.
Options include not renewing recently expired permits for Iran to export oil, or freezing Iranian assets around the world.
Yesterday, Britain’s UN charge d’affaires Jonathan Allen told Security Council president Gustavo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez that “we do not seek confrontation with Iran”.
But he said: “It is unacceptable and highly escalatory to threaten shipping going about its legitimate business through internationallyrecognised transit corridors.” Britain will look to the 2007 seizure by Iran of a Royal Navy crew and Royal Marines, which resulted in them being held for 13 days.
Defence minister Tobias Ellwood said: “Our first and most important responsibility is to make sure we get a solution to the issue to do with the current ship, make sure other British-flagged ships are safe to operate in these waters and then look at the wider picture.”