Iran humiliated as 'five ships FAIL to seize British oil tanker in Persian Gulf standoff'

According to Sky News the ships, thought to be Iranian, attempted to seize the British tanker as it skirted close to Iranian waters. The ship was ordered to change course before the alleged Revolutionary Guard ships tried to seize the tanker. The Royal Navy frigate, HMS Montrose had been escorting the ship.

When the Iranian boats demanded that it changed its course, the frigate trained its guns on them and issued a warning, according to reports. 

Upon issuing the warning, the Iranian ships retreated.

Officials have also confirmed that a US surveillance aircraft was overhead and recorded the event.

The Navy frigate was escorting the British Heritage tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

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This news comes as a senior Iranian official had threatened to seize a British oil tanker.

Iran had threatened to seize a UK tanker following the seizure of an Iranian ship off the coast of Gibraltar.

Following the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1, Mohsen Rezaei, who is presently the Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council threatened the UK.

He said: “If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities’ duty to seize a British oil tanker.”

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Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said the UK’s action had set “a dangerous precedent and must end now”.

Moreover, the Islamic Republic has also called the UK ambassador to Tehran to lodge a formal protest against the seizure.

The latest news comes following a series of exchanges between the US and the Islamic Republic.

Donald Trump has accused the country of two separate attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last month.

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Whereas Iran shot down a US drone after it allegedly flew into Iranian territory.

Tensions between the US and Iran began to escalate following Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by Iran and the leading powers in order to eliminate the country’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium.

Following Trump’s withdrawal from the treaty, Iran has now insisted that it will exceed the 3.67 percent limits previously agreed in the 2015 treaty.

With Iran looking to exceed the limit, Donald Trump has initiated a raft of new economic sanctions determined to cripple the economy.

source: express.co.uk