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Ministry of Defence
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HMS Duncan in the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route in the Gulf
A second Royal Navy warship has arrived in the Gulf to supply protection to British ships amid heightened tensions in the situation.
HMS Duncan has joined frigate HMS Montrose to escort vessels crusing below the British flag by map of the Strait of Hormuz.
HMS Montrose has to this level accompanied 35 vessels by map of the strait, per the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace acknowledged the UK persevered to push for a diplomatic approach to the dilemma.
He acknowledged: "Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is principal no longer accurate to the UK, nonetheless moreover our world companions and allies.
"Service provider ships wants to be free to paddle lawfully and exchange safely, anyplace on this planet."
Mr Wallace added the Royal Navy will continue to give a safeguard for UK vessels "unless this is the fact".
HMS Duncan is a Variety Forty five Destroyer which the Royal Navy describes as "among the most superior warships ever constructed".
Why enjoy tensions escalated?
Earlier this month, British Royal Marines helped receive Iranian tanker Grace 1 approach Gibraltar which used to be suspected of breaking EU sanctions, infuriating Iran.
In response, Tehran threatened to grab a British oil tanker.
On 19 July, British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero used to be seized by Iran's Modern Guard in the main shipping route.
A second British-linked tanker, the MV Mesdar, used to be moreover boarded by armed guards nonetheless used to be released.
Tehran acknowledged the Stena Impero used to be "violating world maritime principles".
HMS Montrose used to be alerted nonetheless it used to be too some distance-off to surrender the seizure.
Iran's impart-crawl IRNA news agency acknowledged the tanker used to be captured after it collided with a fishing boat and didn't answer to calls from the smaller craft.
Nevertheless the then foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt acknowledged it used to be seized in Omani waters in "creep contravention of world regulation" and then compelled to fly into Iran.
The tanker's Swedish owners, Stena Bulk, acknowledged it had been complying with guidelines and had been in world waters.
Stena Bulk acknowledged the 23 crew participants, who are Indian, Russian, Latvian and Filipino, are in appropriate successfully being and revel in met with officers from their respective worldwide locations.
How has the UK reacted?
The then foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt known as the seizure of the Stena Impero "impart piracy".
Nevertheless he insisted: "Our precedence is silent to ranking a technique to de-escalate the dilemma."
Talking to the BBC, feeble Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith described the UK-flagged ship's grab as a "main failure" by the UK.
The then defence minister Tobias Ellwood told Sky News "it's some distance most unlikely simply to escort every particular individual vessel".
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What has Iran acknowledged?
Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif acknowledged in a tweet the UK "have to cease being an adjunct to #EconomicTerrorism of the US".
He acknowledged Iran guarantees the security of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, and insisted its motion were to "uphold world maritime principles".
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has indicated the Stena Imepero would possibly perchance honest be released if the UK returns the Grace 1.
In a divulge on his net space he acknowledged: "We're no longer going to continue tensions with some European worldwide locations and if they're dedicated to world frameworks and abandon some actions, including what they did in Gibraltar, they'll receive an actual response from Iran".
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