ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UK is sending Royal Marines to the Gulf to defend its warships, as tensions between the US and Iran progressively mount, following attacks on two oil tankers last week, the Sunday Times reported.
One hundred marines will be deployed as a rapid reaction force called Purpose Task Group 19, military sources told the Times. The marines are set to patrol the area from a British naval base in Bahrain.
One hundred marines will be deployed as a rapid reaction force called Purpose Task Group 19, military sources told the Times. The marines are set to patrol the area from a British naval base in Bahrain.
Two tankers caught fire in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, forcing the crews of the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous to abandon the vessels.
Though it remains unclear what caused the fires, the US blamed Iran on Thursday for the incident.
Iran has vehemently denied the accusations.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Iran was "almost certainly" responsible on Saturday and criticized Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn for not backing British intelligence.
On Saturday Corbyn had called on the British government to “ease tensions in the Gulf, not fuel a military escalation” in a tweet.
“Without credible evidence about the tanker attacks, the government’s rhetoric will only increase the threat of war”.
Last month, London changed its travel advice for British-Iranian dual nationals, warning them against all travel to Iran, citing the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
UK and Iran relations have become strained in recent years, as a number of dual nationals are in jail in Iran on what the British government says are trumped up charges.
The British-Iranian mother is currently on hunger strike protesting her detention.
She was arrested in April 2016 as she was leaving Iran after taking their infant daughter to visit her family. She was sentenced to five years for allegedly trying to topple the Iranian government.
Richard Ratcliffe has joined in his wife's hunger strike, camping in a tent outside of the Iranian embassy in London.
Foreign Secretary Hunt called on Tehran to “Do the right thing, show the world your humanity and let this innocent woman come home. Free Nazanin”.
Tension between the UK and Iran are developing simultaneously with Iran-US tensions. The two have been at loggerheads on a number of issues, including the activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian nuclear deal.
Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, arguing the agreement did not prevent Tehran from developing nuclear capabilities and did not stop it from interfering in regional conflicts.
The US designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in April.
The move was a way to deprive Iran of the power to “spread misery and death” around the world, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, accusing the IRGC of “actively engaging in terrorism” while it “masquerades as a legitimate military organization.”
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