TUESDAY 6 AUGUST 2019

Britain joins US navy to patrol

Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shadow the ‘Stena Impero’ last month (AP)

KIM SENGUPTA

DEFENCE EDITOR

Britain is joining the US in a naval mission in the Gulf to protect international shipping following tanker
seizures by the Iranian military, a move that reflects the escalating security crisis in the region. Two Royal
Navy warships already in the area will be working alongside two US ships to accompany vessels through the
Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20 per cent of the world’s oil supplies.

Whitehall officials insist the mission will not remain under US control and, in time, will transition to one
with European command in which the UK has offered to lead one of the maritime task groups.

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