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Old 06-15-2019, 01:30 PM
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Exclamation The Royal Navy sends 100 Marines to the Gulf to protect British ships after Iranian a

The Royal Navy sends 100 Marines to the Gulf to protect British ships after Iranian attacks on tankers
By: Ross Ibbetson 6-15-19
RE: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...l-tankers.html

- 100 elite soldiers will be dispatched to the Gulf amid heightening tensions
- Iranian special forces are alleged to have attacked at least two oil tankers
- Royal marines are tasked with guarding British ships in the Gulf of Oman
- US blames Iran for the attacks amid fears of a repeat of the 1980s 'Tanker War'

The Navy will dispatch 100 Royal Marines to the Gulf to guard British ships after Iran attacked two oil tankers, raising the threat of war.

The US blamed Iran for the attacks with limpet charge mines in the busy shipping lanes in the Gulf of Oman, amid flaring tensions with the isolationist state.

Elite soldiers from 42 Commando will leave their Plymouth barracks to form Special Purpose Task Group 19, deploying on Royal Navy ships from Britain's new Bahraini base.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned there would be 'unintended but catastrophic' consequences if Iran was proven to be behind Thursday's twin attacks.

1st - Photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0621680723.jpg
An oil tanker is seen after it was attacked at the Gulf of Oman, in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran on Thursday - Donald Trump has said the two attacks had Iran 'written all over it'

2nd photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0621727204.jpg
Royal Marines Commandos - including the 42 Commando unit being dispatched to the Gulf - taking part in arduous training exercises in Plymouth recently

3rd photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0515301149.jpg
A diagram showing the U.S. and Iranian forces in the region and the location of recent attacks on oil tankers and a Saudi oil pipeline, which have escalated Middle East tensions

The Marine's will protect against small vessels, mines and naval missiles which might be targeted at Royal Navy boats or British merchant ships, The Times reported.

Donald Trump has said the oil tanker attacks had Iran 'written all over it', rejecting Tehran's vehement denial.

Attacks on tankers have brought chilling echoes of the 1980s Tanker War which resulted in a one-day naval battle between the US and Iran.

The US military on Friday released grainy footage it said showed an Iranian patrol boat removing an 'unexploded limpet mine' from one of the tankers.

Britain has backed the United States in blaming Iran for the tanker attacks and on Saturday, Iran summoned the British ambassador to complain about its 'unacceptable stance,' ISNA news agency reported.

Other nations have urged caution. Germany said the video was not enough to prove Iran's role, while U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation to determine responsibility.

China and the European Union called for restraint.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the Hormuz Strait, a narrow seaway vital to the world's oil supplies, in the event of a conflict with the US.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US had 'immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence.'

The US has also accused Iran over May 12 sabotage attacks on four tankers anchored in the Gulf of Oman off Fujairah.

4th photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0621781432.jpg
The Royal Marines elite commandos (pictured in training recently off Plymouth) will be tasked with protecting British merchant boats, as well as naval vessels in the Gulf

Video link: https://videos.dailymail.co.uk/previ...4370243295.mp4
Military releases video - "that shows Iran recovering mine"

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation.

'It's very important to know the truth (and) that responsibilities are clarified,' he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

'Obviously that can only be done if there is an independent entity that verifies those facts.'

The oil tankers hit Thursday morning were 10 nautical miles apart and heading for Asia when they were struck by explosions after passing through the Strait of Hormuz, some 25 nautical miles off Iran's southern coast.

The Front Altair was carrying naphtha, a refined petroleum product, when it was hit by three explosions, according to Norwegian officials.

Blocking the Hormuz Strait would be a relatively low-tech, high-impact countermeasure Iran could take against any attack by the United States, and would severely disrupt global oil supplies.

But Mr Trump played down the threat.

'It's not going to be closed, it's not going to be closed for long and they know it. They've been told in very strong terms,' he said on Friday, referring to Iran.

May 5: The U.S. says it is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group and a bomber task force to the Middle East because of a 'credible threat' from Iran.

Since then Washington has announced the dispatch to the region of an amphibious assault ship, a Patriot missile battery and an extra 1,500 troops.

May 8: Iran vows to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels starting July 7 if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its nuclear deal.

The U.S. responds by imposing fresh sanctions on Iran's steel and mining sectors.

5th photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0626006415.jpg
Smoke pours from the Norwegian-owned oil tanker on Thursday after it was hit by an explosion near the UAE and Iran in an apparent attack which has put the Middle East on high alert

May 12: Two Saudi oil tankers and two other ships are damaged in mysterious 'sabotage attacks' off the coast of Fujairah, part of the United Arab Emirates.

Washington believes Iran is to blame for the attacks, but Tehran denies involvement.

May 14: Yemen's pro-Iranian Huthi rebels carry out drone attacks near Riyadh, shutting down a key Saudi oil pipeline.

Two days later Saudi-led coalition air strikes hit the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The next day the U.S. orders all non-emergency diplomats to leave Iraq, due to an 'imminent' threat from Iranian-linked Iraqi militias.

May 19: Trump warns that if Iran attacks American interests 'that will be the official end of Iran'.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the 'genocidal taunts' of U.S. Trump will not 'end Iran'.

May 27: Trump says the U.S. is 'not looking for regime change' in Iran.

May 30: Saudi Arabia - which accuses Iran of being behind the acts of sabotage and the drone attack in May - gets the backing of Arab leaders in its standoff with Tehran at summits organised by Riyadh.

Iran accuses Riyadh of 'sowing division'.

6th photo link: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06...0621979363.jpg
Inferno: A fire rages on board the oil tanker MT Front Altair after it was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, in what has been described as a torpedo attack

June 6: The UAE says a multinational investigation into the sabotage attacks point to the likelihood a state was behind them, without incriminating Iran.

June 12: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives in Tehran in a bid to mediate between Washington and Tehran.

A Yemeni rebel missile attack on an airport at Abha, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, wounds 26 civilians. The Saudis accuse Iran of supplying the weapon.

June 13: Two tankers, Norwegian and Japanese, are hit by explosions in apparent attacks in the Gulf of Oman.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet says that it received two separate distress calls from the tankers in a 'reported attack'.

Foreign Minister Zarif says the tanker 'attacks' as Abe visits are 'suspicious'.

Mr Abe meets Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who tells him: 'I don't consider Trump as a person worthy of exchanging messages with. I have no response for him and will not answer him.'

An additional link for more details: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/n...late-xgpll0gkj
Royal Navy special force heads to the Gulf as tensions escalate
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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