UK Sending Another Warship To Persian Gulf Amid Tensions With Iran - Reports

The United Kingdom will send another warship to the Persian Gulf amid mounting tensions with Iran, local media reported on Friday

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2019) The United Kingdom will send another warship to the Persian Gulf amid mounting tensions with Iran, local media reported on Friday.

The decision comes after Iranian cleric Kazem Sedighi said earlier in the day that Iran would "slap Britain in the face" for "daring" to seize an Iranian oil tanker, allegedly carrying crude oil to Syria, in Gibraltar, a UK overseas territory.

UK Royal Navy's HMS Duncan air-defense destroyer is expected to leave for the Persian Gulf in the coming days, Sky news broadcaster specified.

MS Duncan will replace HMS Montrose which is due to come off for pre-planned maintenance and crew change, a government spokesperson later told journalists.

The vessel will operate alongside US vessels, without joining an international maritime coalition that Washington has proposed to establish. Four UK mine hunters and an auxiliary ship of the UK Royal Fleet are also stationed in the region.