Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Warship turns guns on Iran commandos
Navy intervenes to stop tanker attack
A BRITISH warship repelled a high-seas attack by turning its guns on three Iranian gunboats as they closed in on a UK supertanker.
HMS Montrose switched to battle stations as Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commandos sped towards the vessel, owned by BP, in the Strait of Hormuz.
Confronted by Montrose the three armoured craft retreated as Royal Navy crew warned them to back off or face military action.
The close call has further escalated tensions between the UK and Iran.
Tehran had threatened London after last week’s operation in which British commandos seized Iranian supertanker Grace 1, suspected of breaching sanctions as it tried to deliver oil to Syria. The MOD said its Type 23 frigate had stepped in to prevent international maritime law being broken.
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt said: “The crew of HMS Montrose ensured the safe passage of merchant vessel British Heritage through the Strait of Hormuz.
“I would like to thank the Royal Navy for their professionalism.”
The MOD added: “HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage, and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away.”
Iran said the clash did not happen. Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif dismissed the UK account as “worthless” and intended to “create tension”.