TEHRAN, Iran -- Britain said Monday that it would join a U.S.-led naval security mission in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran's seizure of merchant vessels has raised tensions with the West.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lambasted recent U.S. financial sanctions against him, adding that the U.K. has shown it itself to be "complicit in U.S. economic terrorism."
"Whoever is starting the fire cannot be the firefighter," Zarif said at a news conference in Tehran. "Every time that the U.S. has come to the Persian Gulf, it has brought nothing but violence and war."
He criticized recent U.S. penalties targeting himself, saying that "imposing sanctions against a foreign minister means failure" for any efforts at negotiations and indicates the side imposing the measures is "opposing talks."
The U.S. administration last week announced sanctions on Zarif, a month after President Donald Trump had imposed similar sanctions on Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The moves are seen as part of Washington's escalating campaign in what Trump calls "maximum pressure" on the Islamic Republic.
The U.S. has increasingly deployed military reinforcements to the region amid unspecified threats from Iran in the wake of Trump's withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Speaking of the naval security mission, Britain's Ministry of Defense said it "will draw largely on assets already in the region." It said the British navy will work alongside the U.S. Navy to escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, which sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, a shipping channel for one-fifth of all global crude exports.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has spoken to allies around the world to encourage them to join the mission to safeguard a key choke point for oil, the U.K. said in a statement emailed by the British Embassy in Washington.
"It is vital to secure the freedom for all international shipping to navigate the Strait of Hormuz without delay, given the increased threat," Raab said in the statement. "This deployment will reinforce security and provide reassurance for shipping. Our aim is to build the broadest international support to uphold freedom of navigation in the region, as protected under international law."
He also distanced Britain from the U.S.' high-pressure approach.
"Our approach to Iran hasn't changed," Raab said. "We remain committed to working with Iran and our international partners to de-escalate the situation and maintain the nuclear deal."
Two British warships are currently in the region, the frigate HMS Montrose and the destroyer HMS Duncan. The Montrose is due to leave for planned repairs later this month.
Britain has been giving U.K.-flagged vessels in the region a naval escort since Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized a British-flagged oil tanker last month. Some Iranian officials suggested the seizure of the Stena Impero was retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker off the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman, James Slack, said Britain continues to seek an international coalition in the Persian Gulf, though he did not say who would be in it.
Cooperating with the U.S. marks a shift in strategy under Johnson. The U.K. had previously called for a European-led initiative to protect shipping as it sought to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The question is whether the U.K. move gives its European allies, who had previously all but ruled out working with the U.S. in the region, cover to join the mission. Germany, for instance, has said it will not be involved.
Zarif expressed doubt that any alliance with the U.S. could further peace and stressed Monday that Washington's policy of "talking about war as an option that remains on the table cannot stand."
Zarif's news conference came a day after Iran announced its forces had seized a foreign ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, but provided no details on the vessel or the nationality of the crew. It was the Revolutionary Guard's third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid the spike in tensions.
Six oil tankers have also been targeted in the Gulf of Oman in unclaimed acts of sabotage that the U.S. blames on Iran. Iran has denied any involvement in those attacks.
In June, Iran shot down an American surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump came close to retaliating, but called off an airstrike at the last moment.
Maritime security in the region was further jolted in mid-July, when the Revolutionary Guard's naval forces confirmed they had seized a United Arab Emirates-based oil tanker, the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah, and said it had been smuggling fuel from Iranians to foreign customers.
Iran recently began surpassing uranium-enrichment limits set in the 2015 deal, but says these moves can be reversed if given enough economic incentives to offset U.S. sanctions.
Referring to the seizure of the British tanker, Zarif said Monday that it was not a reciprocal action for Gibraltar. He also told reporters he had received an invitation from Washington for a meeting during his New York trip in July, along with a warning about the sanctions.
U.S. officials have not confirmed either of Zarif's claims, but The New Yorker magazine reported last week that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., whom Trump said he had authorized to speak with Zarif, relayed the message in a meeting with the foreign minister.
"I'm not going to make remarks on what happened in the negotiations, but I was told in New York that I would be sanctioned in two weeks unless I accepted that offer, which fortunately I did not," Zarif said. "We are standing tall. The enemies cannot stop Iran's progress with sanctions and pressure."
Information for this article was contributed by Amir Vahdat and Jill Lawless of The Associated Press; by Alex Morales and Jessica Shankleman of Bloomberg News; and by Erin Cunningham of The Washington Post.
A Section on 08/06/2019