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Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is under intense pressure to join the United States Gulf-led international maritime protection force projects as more and more signs indicate that Iran is preparing for a long confrontation with the British-flagged oil tanker that he has arrested.
While Tehran reported that it would refuse to release the Steno Impero until the United Kingdom releases an Iranian-flagged ship seized off the coast of Gibraltar a fortnight ago, the British government was accused of failing to adequately protect his vessels in the Gulf.
Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood added that the cuts had left the Royal Navy too small to manage Britain's interests around the world.
Conservative backbenchers, including personalities close to Boris Johnson, who is expected to become prime minister this week, are unhappy with the government's reluctance to accept a Washington offer to protect British ships in the region. . The capture of Stena Impero on Friday was widely viewed as a preventable mistake for which ministers had been warned.
Iain Duncan Smith, tipped for a cabinet post in a Johnson administration, said the government was to urgently respond to the accusation that he had made a mistake. He added that real questions had been raised about the UK's contingency plans after the seizure of Iranian tanker Grace 1 on 4 July. "If something did not send out an alarm signal that we needed important means, protection and conveyance of our ships in this area, I want to know why."
Duncan Smith said his sources had hinted that Washington had urged the UK to "use US badets to support British shipments, and they were not picked up at the time." He wished to know why the additional badets of the United Kingdom had not been shipped quickly.
Hunt is expected to announce limited sanctions against members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and say that the UK is ready to join an international protection force on the right terms. It will also send air badets to the region.
The Foreign Office is seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict but has advised all British flag vessels not to enter the Strait of Ormuz.
Bob Sanguinetti, managing director of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: "The health of world trade is based on freedom of navigation. We must now reach a diplomatic solution in order to de-escalate. We must restore confidence in the safety of the ships crossing the strait, and if that necessitated the deployment of more warships from the international community, we would welcome that. "
The Iranian government said that the length of detention of mainly Indian crew members in Stena Impero depended on the degree of their cooperation. "The regulations oblige us to investigate the matter," Iranmoran Afifipour, head of the ports and maritime affairs of Hormozgan province, told Iranian state television.
Afifipour said the 23 crew members of the ship were "safe and healthy". The owners of the ship asked to visit the crew.
The Iranian deputies gathered on Sunday hailed the capture of the ship and called on the government to consider charging tolls to all British and US ships heading for the strait, which would lead to naval clashes as the strait is considered water. international.
"It is imperative that the Iranian ship be released as soon as possible so as not to impose a toll on British and American ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz," said Mostafa Kavakebian, member of parliament's national security committee. Iranian.
Iranian officials have explicitly stated that the capture on Friday was in retaliation for the capture of Grace 1. Iran's Speaker Ali Larijani said the British had "stolen and got an answer" from the Revolutionary Guards.
Britain admits privately that it has collaborated with the United States in the capture of Grace 1, but claims to have independent information that the vessel contains oil destined for Syria, in violation of EU sanctions. . He says that the ship could not have been stopped if it had not entered the waters of Gibraltar.
It is possible that the ministers underestimated this reaction, especially since Iran did not retaliate when the British – unlike the French and Germans – blamed the Revolutionary Guards for attack two tankers last month.
A Whitehall source admitted that the government had considered turning a blind eye to a man, admitting that an unworthy part of himself had thought, "Let this cup pbad from my lips".
Ellwood again demanded the release of Stena Impero, a call recaptured by Oman in whose waters the vessel had been captured.
Speaking on Sky News, Elwood also urged that cuts in the defense sector be canceled. He said: "If we want to continue playing a role in the international arena, knowing that threats are changing and that all are just below the threshold of total war, we must invest more in our defense, including the Royal Navy. . . Our Royal Navy is too small to manage our interests around the world if these are our future intentions and the next Prime Minister will have to recognize it. "
Britain is concerned about the rules of engagement of the long-standing US plan for the creation of an international maritime security force, nicknamed Operation Sentinel. There is already a UN-approved anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia, while combined operational forces are already operating in the Gulf, devoted to security and the fight against drug trafficking.
There are also problems with the financing of any new larger operation proposed by the US Central Command. But most importantly, Britain fears that US-led convoys in the Gulf will accidentally pbad from pbadive and defensive to something more volatile.
Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, said Sunday that only "prudence and foresight" could ease tensions between his country and Britain. He said that US National Security Advisor John Bolton, "having failed to train Donald Trump in the war of the century … is turning his venom against the UK in the hope of lead him into a quagmire ".
Iran's ambbadador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baeidinejad, said on Twitter that Britain should contain "those national political forces that want to intensify existing tensions between Iran and the United Kingdom far beyond the question of ships. It's quite dangerous and unwise at a sensitive time in the region, "he said, adding that Iran" is firm and ready to face different scenarios. "
Iranian circles are aware that the post of Prime Minister Johnson could lead the UK to weaken its support for the nuclear deal that Trump has withdrawn last year.
In the only easing of tensions on Sunday, Iran praised Saudi Arabia's efforts to return an Iranian ship docked at the port of Jeddah due to technical problems in May.
"Iran appreciates the efforts of the Saudi, Swiss and Omani authorities to ensure the safe return of the Iranian oil tanker" Happiness 1 ", said Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi.
The Iranian media announced in early July that Saudi Arabia, its regional rival, did not allow the ship to leave Jeddah because of a dispute over the payment of repair costs.
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