International News Trade

Iran Loves This: The Royal Navy Doesn’t Have Enough Ships to Patrol Persian Gulf

Iran Loves This: The Royal Navy Doesn’t Have Enough Ships to Patrol Persian Gulf

The Royal Navy plans briefly to double its number of warships in the Persian Gulf following an attempted attack by Iranian forces on a British oil tanker on June 20, 2019.

But the temporary increase in British warships in the region, from one to two, underscores just how few ships the Royal Navy can deploy even in an emergency.


Iranian boats tried to “impede” the British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, the BBC reported. HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate, “was forced to move between the three boats and the tanker,” according to the BBC.


Mamdani clashes with rivals in fiery debate less than three weeks before NYC chooses next mayor
Erika Kirk shows TPUSA staff Charlie’s Medal of Freedom: ‘You guys are all part of the legacy’
Jones and Miyares clash over murder texts as Dem repeatedly invokes Trump at heated, high-stakes debate
Jason Miyares hammers Jay Jones over leaked texts during Virginia attorney general debate
Watch: AOC and Bernie Sanders Flip Out on CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Over Chuck Schumer Question
Fox News ‘Antisemitism Exposed’ Newsletter: Hostages’ ‘deep and lasting effects’ revealed
Dem school board chair drops Senate bid after ‘radical empathy’ backlash over illegal immigrant superintendent
John Bolton Slapped with 18 Counts Under the Espionage Act: DOJ Drops Full 26-Page Indictment
Video shows gunman ‘lying in wait’ to ambush businessman outside estate as police hunt shooter: prosecutor
Dem Running for Senate in Maine as a Humble Veteran Called Himself a ‘Communist’ and Painted Rural Whites as Stupid and Racist Online
Pope Leo XIV appoints Chicago’s Cardinal Cupich to Vatican City’s governing commission
Smartmatic charged in alleged scheme to bribe election officials in Philippines
Admiral Overseeing Southern Command Steps Down Amid Strikes on Narco-Terrorists in the Caribbean
SOUTHCOM commander announces sudden retirement amid Trump drug war in Caribbean
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton indicted
See also  Trump plans visit to Supreme Court to watch arguments in tariffs case

The British government claimed the attacking boats belonged to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps militia. The IRGC also allegedly was behind several recent bomb attacks targeting oil tankers in the Gulf and surrounding waters.

Tensions have escalated in the Middle East following U.S. president Donald Trump decision unilaterally to withdraw the United States from the 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program. After Trump restored economic sanctions, Tehran resumed stockpiling uranium.

The July 2019 tanker incident compelled the Royal Navy to accelerate by several weeks a planned deployment to the Gulf by the Type 45 destroyer HMS Duncan. Montrose and Duncan together will patrol the Persian Gulf before Montrose returns to U.K. waters for maintenance.

Duncan sailed south through the Bosphorus on July 13, 2019. The destroyer had been in the Black Sea region for NATO exercises.

Read more here

Share this article:
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter