TEHRAN - Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have released an audio recording in which one of their officers appears to tell a British warship to back off as a naval patrol seized a UK-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on 19 July.
The clip is of a radio exchange in which a guards patrol boat officer tells HMS Montrose to back off while the Iranians seized the Stena Impero vessel passing through the strategic waterway.
The audio clip begins with an officer directly addressing the Montrose using a call sign: “British warship Foxtrot 236, this is Sepah navy patrol boat: you are required not to interfere in this issue.”
A British-accented voice responds: “This is British warship Foxtrot 236: I am in vicinity of an internationally recognised strait with a merchant vessel in my vicinity conducting transit passage.”
The Iranian officer tells the Montrose that the situation could escalate if it tries to intervene: “British warship Foxtrot 236, this is Sepah navy patrol boat: don’t put your life in danger.”
