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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/25/navy-to-guard-uk-ships-in-strait-of-hormuz-mod-iran
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| Navy to guard UK ships in strait of Hormuz, MoD says | Navy to guard UK ships in strait of Hormuz, MoD says |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The UK government says its navy will accompany British-flagged vessels through the strait of Hormuz to defend freedom of navigation, after previously saying it did not have the military resources to do so. | |
| Tensions have spiked since Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the strait last Friday. The move came after British forces captured an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar which Britain said was heading for Syria in defiance of EU sanctions. | |
| The British government has previously advised British-flagged vessels not to pass through the strait of Hormuz and to notify the navy if they plan to do so. | |
| “The Royal Navy has been tasked to accompany British-flagged ships through the strait of Hormuz, either individually or in groups, should sufficient notice be given of their passage,” a government spokesman said. | |
| “Freedom of navigation is crucial for the global trading system and world economy, and we will do all we can to defend it,” he added in a statement. | |
| Britain has been seeking to put together a European-led maritime protection mission to ensure safe shipping through the strait after Iran’s seizure of the tanker, which the UK described as an act of “state piracy”. | |
| France, Italy and Denmark support the idea, three EU diplomats said on Tuesday, but Germany has said it is too early to discuss how it might take part. | |
| Iran has also vowed to secure the strait, and the deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said the Islamic Republic would not allow any disturbance in shipping there, according to reports by the state news agency on Tuesday. | |
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| Middle East and North Africa | Middle East and North Africa |
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