UK foreign secretary under pressure to back plan for Gulf force as Iran digs in

LONDON, July 22 (MENA) - The British foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is under intense pressure to join US-led plans for an international maritime protection force in the Gulf as signs grow that Iran is preparing for a long standoff over the British-flagged tanker it has detained, the Guardian reported.

As Tehran signalled it would refuse to release the Steno Impero until the UK released an Iranian-flagged ship seized off the coast of Gibraltar a fortnight ago, the British government faced accusations it had failed to sufficiently guard its shipping in the Gulf.

Adding to the tensions, the British defense minister, Tobias Ellwood, said cuts had left the Royal Navy too small to manage Britain’s interests around the globe.

According to the Guardian, Theresa May will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee Cobra at 10.30am BST. As well as receiving the latest updates from ministers and officials, the meeting will discuss the maintenance of the security of shipping in the Gulf, it said, adding that Hunt is due to make a statement to MPs on Monday afternoon.

Hunt is expected to announce limited sanctions directed against members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and to say that the UK is willing to join an international protection force on the right terms. It will also send air assets to the region.

On Sunday evening, the Foreign Office confirmed Hunt had spoken with his French and German counterparts who agreed that a “safe passage for vessels” through the economically significant Strait of Hormuz was “a top priority” for Europe.

The Foreign Office is seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict but has advised all British-flagged ships not to enter the Strait of Hormuz.

Bob Sanguinetti, the chief executive of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: “We must restore confidence in the security of ships passing through the strait, and if this necessitates the deployment of more naval vessels from the international community, we would welcome that.”

Senior Tory backbenchers including figures close to Boris Johnson, who is expected to become prime minister this week, are angry at the government’s reluctance to accept an offer from Washington to protect British vessels in the region. The capture of the Stena Impero on Friday was widely seen as an avoidable error for which ministers had ample warning.

Iain Duncan Smith, tipped for a cabinet post in a Johnson administration, said the government needed urgently to answer the charge that it had made an error. He said genuine questions had been raised about the UK’s contingency planning after the UK seized the Iranian tanker, Grace 1, on 4 July. “If something didn’t send an alarm signal that we needed to have serious assets or protection and convoying of our vessels in that area then I want to know why not.”

Duncan Smith said his sources had suggested Washington had invited the UK “to use US assets to support British shipping and they were not taken up at that point.” He said he wanted to know why additional UK assets were not speedily dispatched.