UK joining US-led mission in Strait of Hormuz

Great Britain will reportedly join the U.S.-led mission to police the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz against perceived Iranian aggression. 

Reuters reported Monday that British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told reporters the United Kingdom will work alongside the U.S. and other countries to “find an international solution to the problems in the Strait of Hormuz.”

“The U.K. is determined to ensure her shipping is protected from unlawful threats and for that reason we have today joined the new maritime security mission in the Gulf,” Wallace said.{mosads}

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters Sunday of the plan to police the region, which has become central in the tense standoff between Washington and Tehran. 

Esper had said the U.S. heard “various degrees of commitment” from allies. 

Iran, which runs security in the Strait of Hormuz, said it will no longer tolerate maritime offenses in the region, Reuters reported Monday. 

“Iran used to forgo some maritime offenses in … [the] Gulf but will never close [its] eyes anymore,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a televised news conference. 

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have become increasingly intense after President Trump pulled the U.S. from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Tehran. 

Since then, the U.S. accused Iran of attacking oil tankers in the Gulf region. 

Iran also reportedly seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in July, after Britain said it apprehended an Iranian oil tanker off the southern coast of Spain for attempting to transport oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.