HMS Duncan heads to the Gulf as tensions with Iran flare
A ROYAL Navy destroyer has been dispatched to the Gulf days after a British frigate chased off Iranian troops as they tried to storm an oil tanker.
Portsmouth-based HMS Duncan will patrol the bust shipping lane as UK flagged vessels were put on the highest security alert over fears of retaliation from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The news of the deployment comes as Iran yesterday warned Britain was ‘playing a dangerous game’ over the seizure of a BP oil tanker in Gibraltar last week.
The £1bn guided missile destroyer will join Plymouth-based HMS Montrose and US allies in the region to defend shipping as tensions continue to flare.
Duncan is one of six destroyers based in Portsmouth. Last year the ship, and her 280 crew, faced down an armada of Russian fighter-jets in the Black Sea.