Iranian Boats Attempt to Seize U.K. Oil Tanker, U.S. Officials Say

Five Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps boats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, two U.S. officials told CNN. The British tanker was sailing out of the Persian Gulf and into the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached by the Iranian boats. CNN reports that the Iranians then ordered the tanker to change course and stop in Iranian territorial waters. The U.K.’s HMS Montrose was escorting the tanker out of the gulf and is said to have trained its guns on the Iranians and warned them to back off. The boats retreated shortly thereafter. Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the U.K. “will see the consequences” after U.K. Royal Marines seized an Iranian oil tanker believed to have been carrying oil to Syria last week in Gibraltar. “I tell the British that they are the initiator of insecurity and you will understand its consequences later,” Rouhani said in a cabinet session.