Britain’s navy will accompany UK-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz to provide protection after the United States killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in an air strike, inflaming tensions in the region. Britain was forced to escort its ships through the world’s most important waterway for oil shipments for a time last year after Iranian commandos seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait. British forces had previously captured an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar that was accused of violating sanctions on Syria.
