Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps rejected on Thursday a US claim that they tried to stop a British tanker in the Gulf a day earlier, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Five boats believed to belong to the Guards approached a British oil tanker in the Gulf on Wednesday and asked it to stop in Iranian waters close by but withdrew after a British warship warned them, US officials said, according to Reuters.
But the Guards’ Navy said in a statement their patrol boats were carrying out normal duties.
“During the last 24 hours, there have been no encounters with foreign vessels, including the British ones,” the statement read.
British authorities did not comment immediately on the incident.
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Tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies have risen sharply since Washington stepped up economic sanctions against Iran and moved to bring the country’s oil exports to zero as part of a “maximum pressure” policy to make Iran halt actions that it said undermined regional security, Reuters reported.
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