London (AFP)
A new British warship, HMS Defender, is deployed to protect merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, a strategic region at the heart of tensions with Iran, Defense Ministry said Saturday .
The HMS Defender "will join the efforts of the Royal Navy to ensure the safe passage of ships in the Middle East," the ministry said in a statement.
"The UK stands ready to protect the freedom of navigation whenever it is put to the test," Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in the statement.
HMS Defender left Portsmouth on August 12 alongside HMS Kent. The two ships "will now work alongside international partners as part of the new international maritime safety mission" to which the United Kingdom announced in early August to participate alongside the United States.
HMS Montrose remains stationed in the area and has so far made more than 30 crossings of the Strait, the ministry said.
Tensions have mounted in this strategic region since the US withdrawal in May 2018 from the Iranian nuclear deal, followed by the reinstatement of heavy US sanctions against Iran. They intensified this summer with attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, blamed by Washington on Tehran, denying any involvement.
On July 19, Iran seized a British flag-carrying tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Strait, 15 days after the Iranian tanker Grace 1 boarded the British off Gibraltar.
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