US, UK boost naval presence in the Arabian Gulf

Iran on Friday demanded the British navy release an Iranian oil tanker seized last week off Gibraltar, accusing London of playing a "dangerous game" and threatening retribution, while London announced it was sending a destroyer to the Arabian Gulf.
Meanwhile, the US said it was putting together a naval coalition to escort vessels in the region.
The comments from Iran's Foreign Ministry came the day after police in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the southern tip of Spain, said they arrested the captain and chief officer of the supertanker suspected of breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to Syria.
The British navy said on Thursday it had stopped three Iranian paramilitary vessels from disrupting the passage of a British oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane at the mouth of the Arabian Gulf. Iran's Revolutionary Guard denied any incident had occurred in the Strait.
That brief but tense standoff is believed to have stemmed from the British seizure of the Iranian tanker off Gibraltar on July 4.
On Friday, the British Ministry of Defence said it was moving up its timetable for relieve the HMS Montrose, a frigate operating in the Arabian Gulf, with the larger HMS Duncan destroyer in the wake of the recent developments. "This will ensure that the UK alongside international partners can continue to support freedom of navigation for vessels transiting through this vital shipping lane."
The Iranian tanker intercepted last week was carrying 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil, the head of Gibraltar's government said Friday.
A senior Spanish official had previously said the interception was carried out at the request of the United States, but Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told parliament no other government had asked the territory to act.
"These important decisions about breaches of our laws were certainly not decisions taken at the political behest or instruction of any other state or of any third party," he said.
He said the ship is suspected of breaching European Union sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and that any nation with a claim to the vessel and its cargo can file a claim in court. 
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif scoffed at the accusation Iran was violating sanctions, which he said "are meant "to stop Europe from buying Syria's oil, they are not about another country selling oil to Syria." The tanker's interception has stoked already high tensions in the region, as the Trump administration continues its campaign of maximum pressure on Iran. 
The US has sent thousands of troops, an aircraft carrier, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets to the Middle East, and fears are growing of a wider conflict after mysterious oil tanker attacks near the Strait of Hormuz blamed on Iran, attacks by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen on Saudi Arabia and Iran's downing of a US military drone. 
Iran has recently begun surpassing uranium enrichment limits set in its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in response to President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the accord a year ago. 
The US has also re-imposed tough sanctions on Tehran's oil exports, exacerbating an economic crisis that has sent its currency plummeting. Iran has said its breaches of the nuclear pact can be reversed if the other parties to the agreement - Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union - can come up with enough economic incentives to effectively offset the American sanctions.