Britain and Iran: A Complicated Relationship2 min read

Tensions between Britain and Iran have been on the rise in recent months after both nations seized ships with military force.

Since the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal, to reduce the level of uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting sanctions which were signed under the Obama administration.

President Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 in order to seek a better deal that seems unreasonable amongst the other signatories and Iran.

Consequently, the Trump administration reinstated the sanctions and punished any company dealing with Iran. In an attempt to save the deal, the European Union tried to find alternative ways to save the deal but it was not enough in the eyes of the Iranian government.

The British government along with the other signatories, China, Russia, France and Germany, insisted to keep the deal alive but American economic influence seem to be countering any hopes of maintaining the deal.

Therefore, Iran went beyond the uranium level that was set in 2015, in July 2019, after the United States accused Iran of attempting to sabotage ships in the Gulf of Oman.

Yet critics were sceptical on the video that was released of alleged Iranian special forces sabotaging two oil tankers but Britain came out in support of the Trump administration’s narrative which angered the Iranian government.

Consequently, the Iranian military attempted to seize a British tanker on the Strait of Hormuz, an important shipping route but was foiled by the British Navy HMS Montrose.

British forces seized an Iranian oil tanker bound to Syria off the coast of Gibraltar which was in violation of EU sanctions.

However, the Iranian regime accuses the United Kingdom of illegal seizure of the oil tanker and threaten to retaliate which they did when the British Stena Impero ship was seized despite British efforts of protecting the international waters of the straits.

Thus, Iran and Britain is on a standoff with the newly appointed Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s plan ought to de-escalate tensions or face a diplomatic crisis.

Photo by lewis pratt on Unsplash