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A Royal Navy submarine with 20ft-Tomahawk missiles is 'ready to strike' Iran if tensions escalate, reports suggest.

The submarine, which is kept in the region at all times, is armed with 20ft-Tomahawk missiles which each carry a 1,000lb high-explosive warhead with enough power to destroy a building.

The weapon has a range of more than 1,550 miles, travels at a speed of 550mph and has a GPS guidance system allowing it to switch targets mid-flight.

Armed force officials are working to ensure Britain is ready to back America militarily if asked, amid fears of an "accidental war" between Iran and the US, it is said.

Elite operatives from the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service were also said to be heading to Iraq, ready for rescue missions, reports the Mirror.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said he had ordered HMS Montrose and HMS Defender to accompany British-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz to "take all necessary steps to protect our ships and citizens".

A senior British figure told The Times : "We have a plan A and a plan B and a 'break the glass' plan if it all kicks off.

"Our forces in the region have been told to reorientate towards force protection."

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The Foreign Office and MI6 are monitoring events "hour by hour", with ministers believing there is a 40 per cent chance the UK will be asked to withdraw all its forces from Baghdad, Mail Online reports.

Senior defence sources revealed that an Astute class hunter-killer sub was sat silently in a range of Iranian targets.

An insider told The Sun: “There will be no first strike, but every precaution is being made, depending on how Iran reacts to the death of Soleimani.

“If things unravel quickly, the UK will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the US.

"The hunter-killers are the most advanced submarines in the Royal Navy.

"They are a deadly asset and there is one well within range of Iran."

UK troops have also been ordered to abandon their training of Iraqi forces and switch to securing the British embassy in Baghdad, according to the Sunday Times.

The death of Iranian top general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike on Thursday has sparked fears of a third Gulf War.

Thousands attended the commander's funeral procession in Baghdad yesterday as some outraged Iraqis waved militia flags and chanted "Death to America".

Further funerals are under way in the Iranian city of Ahvaz today after his remains arrived from Iraq.

In Tehran yesterday, the President of Iran issued a chilling warning that the US made a "grave mistake" by killing Soleimani and said the country will face consequences "for years to come".

(Image: Getty)

Soleimani was killed after intelligence received information that his forces were about to launch kidnap raids on American citizens and diplomats in the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump also claimed the Iranian general had planned bloody attacks in London, The Sun reports.

Rockets were fired near the US embassy in Baghdad and at an airbase housing American troops yesterday, according to reports.

Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles were last fired by the Navy in 2011 against Gaddafi’s military facilities in Libya.

They were also used in Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2001.

The missiles are often used for an initial strike before a major offensive.

Soleimani, 62, commanded the elite Quds force for 21 years.

He was behind Syria's civil war, attacks on US and UK troops, the rise of pro-Iranian militia in Iraq and supported terror groups in the region.

Yesterday one of Soleimani's daughters asked President Hassan Rouhani for revenge.

The Iranian President said: “The Americans did not realise what a grave mistake they have made.

"They will suffer the consequences of such criminal measure not only today, but also throughout the years to come.”