British warship sets sail for tanker escort mission in Gulf August 13, 2019 at 1:50 am | Published in: Asia & Americas , Iran US HMS Kent (Wikipedia) August 13, 2019 at 1:50 am British warship HMS Kent set sail for the Gulf on Monday to join a US-led mission protecting commercial shipping vessels in the region amid heightened political tension between the West and Iran, Reuters reports.

Britain has joined the United States in a maritime security mission in the Gulf to protect merchant vessels.

That comes after Iran seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. On July 4 British marines seized an Iranian vessel, which is suspected of smuggling oil to Syria, off the coast of Gibraltar.

Read: ‘Security of Strait of Hormuz red line for Iran’

“Our focus in the Gulf remains firmly one of de-escalating the current tensions,” said Andy Brown, the ship’s commanding officer.

“But we are committed to upholding freedom of navigation and reassuring international shipping, which this deployment on operations aims to do.”

The deployment was first announced last month and will see the Kent relieve another British ship, the Duncan, already working in the region.

Categories Asia & Americas Iran Middle East News US Show Comments