Britain’s newest warship is heading to the Gulf for its first mission at a time of tensions over Iran’s threat to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key transport route for oil.
The Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Daring, which has a ‘stealth’ design to help avoid detection by radar, is to join other British ships in the region, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday.
Although its deployment has been planned for more than a year, it comes as Britain and its allies have expressed deep concern about Iran’s threat to close the shipping lane through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.
Iran has threatened to take the move if it is hit with fresh sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on a visit to Washington this week that both Britain and the United States would ensure that their response to any provocation was ‘very measured, that there isn’t an accidental escalation’.
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