LONDON -

The diplomatic repercussions of the attack on the Mercer Street in the Sea of ​​Oman, which resulted in the killing of two crew members, one of whom was British, continues between Western insistence on pointing the finger at Iran and Tehran's denial of responsibility for the attack.

Britain found itself at the forefront of the Western rank to closely follow this attack and the military threat to Iran. In a rare media exit, the commander of the British army - General Nick Carter - threatened Tehran with deterrence, prompting speculation about the possibility of British military action in coordination with Western countries, especially with the United States.

Through Al-Jazeera Net's contact with the British Foreign Office, it appears that London is still insisting on Iran's responsibility and involvement in the attack, despite the Iranian denial of these accusations, and the pressure on Iran was intensified by the US military's publication of pictures it says are of an Iranian drone that attacked the ship.

Diplomatic pressure

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net via phone, the British Foreign Office confirmed that it had not changed its assessment that "it is very likely that Iran attacked the Mercer Street ship in international waters off the coast of Oman using one or more drones."

The British Foreign Office said it was working with its Western partners to seek a joint response to this attack, while Iran insists that it is not responsible for the incident and that what is happening is a systematic campaign against it "to prepare for an adventure with uncalculated consequences."

Regarding the ceiling of the Western response to this attack, between diplomatic pressure and a military response, diplomatic sources in Britain suggested that the matter would stop at the borders of diplomacy, and in coordination with the United States, ruling out any military response or a limited strike signed by the West.


exclude war

A member of the Center for Security and Global Studies, Professor Taher Abbas, rules out that Britain will resort to any military action to respond to the attack on the Mercer Street ship, nor to the hijacking of another ship off the coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman.

The British professor and expert on global defense policies stressed - in his interview with Al Jazeera Net - that Britain "cannot act militarily against Iran unilaterally," at the same time reducing "the possibility of the West moving militarily against Iran, even if there is evidence of Iran's involvement in the attack."

Professor Abbas justifies that the West, and Britain in particular, is focusing on Russia, "the Western camp wants to focus on Russian moves, and there are greater stakes than the conflict with Iran related to the conflict over areas of influence in the Middle East and in the Black Sea, as well as the struggle over energy sources, especially gas. ".

Professor Taher Abbas expects that "tensions will rise in the Gulf of Oman and the Middle East in general, pending Iranian behavior with the arrival of a new president, but in practice there are many misunderstandings between the West and Iran that have not been resolved so far, and I do not think that it will be resolved in the foreseeable future."


British review

Professor Gilbert Al-Ashkar, professor of international relations at the University of London, agrees with Professor Taher Abbas’s tendency to exclude the military option, especially from Britain, and that “any British military movement would be a form of madness,” noting that British moves, whether at the diplomatic level or statements Military intervention in the context of political review at the international level.

The professor of international relations and strategic affairs stressed that the purpose of the government of Boris Johnson in all of these moves it is taking in this file "is to promote the fact that Britain has returned as an international power and able to influence the international arena after withdrawing from the European Union."

Al-Ashqar meets with Abbas, describing what is happening in the Gulf region and the tanker war as “a low-tension war, and it is expected to continue considering that Iran wants to respond to the Israeli strikes it is targeting Iran in its depth, while the maritime space remains the appropriate place for the Iranian response, but without turning into a war.

Professor Al-Ashqar expected that this tension would remain because "the occupation government entered into a bidding with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over being tough in dealing with the Iranian file, and even accused Netanyahu of wasting time without deterring Iran," adding that "Tel Aviv has real fears." From Tehran achieving any progress in the nuclear file and obtaining nuclear weapons, and this is a real concern of the occupation.”

As for the second factor that will determine the level of tension, it is "the behavior of the new Iranian president (Ebrahim Raisi), who is known for his conservative orientation, and who will not give Washington more flexibility in the nuclear file. On the other hand, there is an American administration that wants to resolve this file to devote itself to larger issues, namely the conflict with Russia and China."

The British position on dealing with Iran remains “dependent on the American position first, and secondly, that one of the victims of the attack on the ship holds British citizenship, and then every move is to try to vent any internal pressure protesting the killing of a British citizen.”