Jeremy Corbyn has been called "pathetic" after saying the government needed to provide "credible evidence" that Iran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers.

The Labour leader said Britain ran the risk of increasing the threat of war in the region.

"Britain should act to ease tensions in the Gulf, not fuel a military escalation that began with US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement," he wrote on Twitter.

US releases footage it says shows Iranian special forces removing mine from oil tanker

"Without credible evidence about the tanker attacks, the government's rhetoric will only increase the threat of war."

Mr Corbyn's comments come after the Foreign Office said it was "almost certain" that "a branch of the Iranian military…attacked two tankers on 13 June".


"No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible," the FCO said, citing a "recent precedent for attacks by Iran against oil tankers".

And Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is running to be the next Tory leader, hit back at Mr Corbyn, tweeting: "Pathetic and predictable. From Salisbury to the Middle East, why can he never bring himself to back British allies, British intelligence or British interests?"

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Other Tory leadership hopefuls also criticised the Labour leader.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Why is Jeremy Corbyn never on the side of the country he seeks to lead? Time and time again - be it the provenance of Novichok, or the banning of Hizbollah - he gives the benefit of the doubt to those who threaten our national security."

Former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab tweeted: "Yet again Jeremy Corbyn allows his anti-American prejudice to skew his moral compass and political judgment. #notfittolead."

Labour's Emily Thornberry backed up Mr Corbyn, saying Britain had to "pause and think about where we are going next".

"The idea that we are going to get enmeshed in another war is really something we need to think about very carefully.

"What we do not want is British forces being drawn into a conflict of that size."

The US released footage on Friday which it said showed an unexploded limpet mine being removed from the Kokuka Courageous, one of the tankers, by Iranian special forces.

Donald Trump told Fox News that Iran "did do it".

"I guess one of the mines didn't explode and it's probably got essentially Iran written all over it," the US president said.

Image: The Labour leader said Britain ran the risk of increasing the threat of war

"And you saw the boat at night trying to take the mine off and successfully took the mine off the boat, and that was exposed."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hit back, accused Washington of "carrying out an aggressive policy and posing a serious threat to regional stability".

And Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has said the US "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence".

Tensions between Iran and the US are high, after Mr Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal negotiated between Tehran and Western nations.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the UK stood behind the US assessment, saying the attacks built on "a pattern of destabilising Iranian behaviour and pose a serious danger to the region".

Image: Hassan Rouhani accused the US of 'posing a serious threat to regional stability'

Mr Hunt said Britain's assessment "leads us to conclude that responsibility for the attacks almost certainly lies with Iran".

"These latest attacks build on a pattern of destabilising Iranian behaviour and pose a serious danger to the region," he said.

"We call on Iran urgently to cease all forms of destabilising activity.

"The UK remains in close coordination with international partners to find diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions."

US Central Command (Centcom) said US naval forces in the region received two separate distress calls on Thursday morning local time in the Gulf of Oman, 25 miles from the Iranian coast in the Strait of Hormuz.

Image: Donald Trump has told Fox News that Iran 'did do it'

The first, at 6.12am, came from the Front Altair, which was loaded with flammable naphtha from the UAE.

Then at 7am, came the second distress call, from the Kokuka Courageous. The tanker was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The suspected attacks come after four commercial ships were "subjected to sabotage operations" in the Arabian Gulf last month.

The Foreign Office said an investigation led by the UAE concluded that they were conducted by "a sophisticated state actor".

"We are confident that Iran bears responsibility for that attack," the FCO said.