UK Adds More Fire to the Oil (Revelation 6:6)

British Royal Navy HMS Defender, a Type 45 Destroyer, leaves Portsmouth, UK, to embark on operations to the Gulf. EPA
UK sends third warship to the Gulf amid Iran tension
The HMS Defender joins the ‘HMS Kent’ and ‘HMS Montrose’ to defend freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz
The National
August 25, 2019
The United Kingdom has sent a third warship to the Arabian Gulf to defend freedom of navigation after a British-flagged tanker was seized in the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s defence minister said on Saturday.
The Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender will join the HMS Kent and HMS Montrose. It has been redirected from a mission to the Pacific and sailed from Portsmouth on August 12.
“Wherever the red ensign flies around the world, the UK stands by to protect freedom of navigation whenever is it tested,” said Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
The HMS Kent will take over from frigate HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer that arrived in the Strait last month to “provide reassurance to the shipping industry” against Iranian aggression, the British government said.
The Royal Navy said last month that it sent HMS Duncan to temporarily join HMS Montrose in the Gulf “to ensure we maintain a continuous maritime security presence while HMS Montrose comes off task for pre-planned maintenance and crew change over”.
According to the UK Foreign Office, the HMS Montrose has accompanied 35 merchant vessels through the Strait during 20 separate transits, travelling 6,200 nautical miles in the process.
It warned off three Iranian gunboats on July 11 that UK officials said were trying to “impede” the progress of a British supertanker through the Strait.
Tensions between Tehran and London have worsened since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the Stena Impero, a Swedish-owned tanker sailing under the British flag. Iranian Revolutionary Guards stormed and detained the vessel and its crew of 23 as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 20.
Iran said the move was in response to British forces capturing Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 – now the Adrian Darya-1 – near Gibraltar on July 4. It was said to be carrying crude oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions. It was released earlier this month and has raised an Iranian flag and has been renamed, and is currently sailing to Turkey.
Iran denied the ship was bound for Syria and gave assurances to a court in Gibraltar that the tanker would not proceed to the war-torn nation.
The United States sought to keep the tanker impounded in Gibraltar, but authorities in the semi-autonomous British territory released it last week after rejecting a push by US officials to keep it detained.
The vessel’s original destination was Kalamata, Greece. On Saturday, the listed destination changed to Mersin, Turkey, after Greece said it wouldn’t risk its relationship with the US by aiding the tanker.
There has been no comment from the US, Iran or Turkey on the tanker’s new destination.
The US alleges that the Adrian Darya’s true owner is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which Washington designated as a foreign terror organisation earlier this year.
Australia said last week that it is to join the US-led mission to protect shipping amid heightened tensions with Iran