On Tuesday, Britain’s Defense Secretary Phillip Hammond reportedly said, the country could send residual military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to prevent attempts by Iran to block Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic. Tehran made accusations about the European Union attempting to create tension with a ban on the purchase of its oil.
On Sunday, the American aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, and two French and British warships entered the Gulf to demonstrate to Tehran they would not accept any interference with global shipping. The Strait controls a fifth of the world’s oil, which Iranian leaders are threatening to close. The embargo sent “a clear signal about the resolve of the international community to defend the right to free passage through international waters,” Hammond said .
