Iranian Revolutionary Guards deny attempting to stop a British oil tanker

The British government said on Thursday that three Iranian ships tried to block the passage of British heritage through the Strait of Hormuz but retreated after receiving a warning.

GENEVA:

Iranian Revolutionary Guards, members of the Iranian elite, on Thursday rejected the American claim to try to stop a British oil tanker in the Gulf, the Guards announced in a statement published by the semi-official news agency Fars.

Five ships belonging to the guards approached on Wednesday a British tanker in the Gulf and asked it to stop in Iranian waters nearby, but withdrew after a British warship warned them, American officials said.

The Guard Navy said in a statement that their patrollers were fulfilling their normal duties, according to Fars.

"In the past 24 hours, there have been no encounters with foreign vessels, including British vessels," the news release said.

However, the British government said on Thursday that three Iranian ships had tried to block the passage of British heritage through the Strait of Hormuz, but had backed down after receiving a warning.

"HMS Montrose was forced to position itself between the Iranian ships and British Heritage and to issue verbal warnings to the Iranian ships, who then refused," said a representative of the British government in a statement.
Tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies have risen sharply since Washington tightened economic sanctions against Iran and decided to reduce its oil exports to zero as part of a "maximum pressure" policy aimed at stopping Iran's actions that, in its view, undermined regional security .