Iran's Revolutionary Guards deny trying to stop British tanker in Gulf
Five boats believed to belong to the Guards approached a British oil tanker in the Gulf on Wednesday and asked it to stop in Iranian waters close by, but withdrew after a British warship warned them, U.S. officials said.
The Guards' Navy said in a statement their patrol boats were carrying out normal duties, according to Fars. "In the past 24 hours there has been no encounter with foreign ships including English ships," the statement said.
"HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away," a British government representative said in a statement.
British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar last week and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria. (Reuters)