Iran Press/Middle East: Five armed Iranian military boats have allegedly approached a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf requesting the vessel to change course , but were scared off by a UK warship, US defense officials claimed.
The incident reportedly happened on Wednesday when the tanker British Heritage was sailing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, anonymous government officials told CNN and Reuters. The boats, apparently belonging to Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, allegedly requested the British vessel to change course and enter Iranian territorial waters.
However, after a ‘verbal’ warning from a Royal Navy frigate, the boats backed away and let the tanker pass. The UK Ministry of Defense has yet to comment on the reports that claimed the entire incident was filmed by US aircraft.
Attacks on two commercial oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13 and an earlier attack on four oil tankers off the UAE’s Fujairah port on May 12 have escalated tensions in the Middle East.
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The US, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE have rushed to blame Iran for the incidents, with the US military releasing a grainy video it claimed shows Iranian forces in a patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from the side of a Japanese-owned tanker which caught fire earlier this month.
It later released some images of the purported Iranian operation after the blurry black and white video footage, taken from the air, was seriously challenged by experts and Washington’s own allies.
Just on Tuesday, the US announced it was looking to put together a maritime “coalition” that would “ensure freedom of navigation both in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford said the US is in contact with “a number of countries” to see which ones “have the political will” to support the initiative.
But with the Pentagon’s announcement it will “build a global consensus” against Tehran and the calls for a maritime coalition, could be just a matter of time.
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