IRAN made a ‘big mistake’ by taking part in a deadly tanker attack that left a British man dead, the head of the UK military has said.
The comments come as tensions rise and Iran continues to attack other ships – the latest a ship close to the UAE.
The Royal Navy said that the “potential hijack” of an oil tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday was over – after a stand-off lasting hours.
Britain’s Military Cheif, General Sir Nick Carter has said Iran must be called out for its “very reckless behaviour” as Western allies plan a response to Iran’s terrorist actions.
The Allies, including the United Kingdom, The United States and Israel have accused Iran of the fatal assault and vowed to respond.
The UK has also written to the UN Security Council over the actions last Thursday.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “The Council must respond to Iran’s destabilising actions and lack of respect for international law.”
The British security guard who died in the drone attack by Iran was named as Adrian Underwood, an army veteran and married father of one.
The Western Allies have accused Iran of the fatal assault and vowed to respond.
“What we need to be doing fundamentally is calling out Iran for very reckless behaviour,” Nick Peel told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“They made a big mistake on the attack they did against the Mercer Street vessel last week because, of course, that has very much internationalised the state of play in the Gulf.”
He added: “Ultimately, we have got to restore deterrence because it is behaviour like that which leads to escalation, and that could very easily lead to miscalculation and that would be very disastrous for all the peoples of the Gulf and the international community.”
Iran has denied responsibility and said it would respond to any threat against its security and has said claims of attacks were “hoaxes”.