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Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose has seen off five Iranian gunboats that reportedly tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

The boats involved are believed to belong to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

They are said to have approached the British Heritage oil tanker on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz and told it to stop in Iranian waters close by.

(Image: PA)

CNN say that an American aircraft was flying overhead and took footage of the incident.

However, the Iranian boats withdrew after the Clyde-built warship intervened, according to two US officials who spoke to CNN.

HMS Montrose had been assigned to patrol the waters and issued a warning to the Iranian boats over the radio. It is believed that the Royal Navy ship was charged with escorting the tanker.

(Image: REUTERS)

CNN say that HMS Montrose aimed its guns on the Iranians boats and warned them to back off.

The Ministry of Defence has not commented on the incident involving the Type 23 frigate that was launched by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1992.

Thirty British commandos stormed an Iranian oil tanker bound for Syria off the coast of Gibraltar last week, prompting Iran's President to threaten the UK with retaliatory action.

Speaking on state television on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said: “You (Britain) are the initiator of insecurity and you will realise the consequences later.

"Now you are so hopeless that, when one of your tankers wants to move in the region, you have to bring your frigates (to escort it) because you are scared. Then why do you commit such acts (seizure)? You should instead allow navigation to be safe."

(Image: UGC)

Tensions in the region have been rising since Donald Trump's US administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed punishing economic sanctions on Tehran.

Iran has since been accused of orchestrating attacks on a number of oil tankers in the Persian Gulf in the past few months.

The Americans say Iranians operating in small boats used limpet mines to target the tankers, pointing to video footage said to show Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.

(Image: UGC)

The US and Saudi Arabia, its major ally in the Middle East, blamed Iran for the incidents, although Tehran denied responsibility.

Tensions between Iran and the US increased last month when the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down an American drone.

Fears of war between Iran and the USA have been ratcheted up in recent months.

(Image: Reuters/PA)

The relationship between the two countries thawed under former US President Barack Obama who signed the nuclear deal with Iran in 2015.

This came after years of diplomatic strains that saw Western powers claim that Iran was trying to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran, though, insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and is needed to help produce electricity for its 80 million population.

Under the nuclear treaty Iran agreed to allow international inspectors to examine its facilities and limit its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The UK, US, France, China, Russia and Germany all signed the treaty but last year Trump withdrew America from the landmark agreement and reimposed tough economic sanctions.

There has been a marked increase in US-Iranian tensions since Trump's decision to try to cut off all of Iran's oil exports and to designate its Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organization."

Trump believes the economic pressure will force Tehran to accept more stringent limitations on its nuclear and missile programs as well as on its support for proxies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

However, Iran has responded by enriching uranium to a higher purity than allowed under the nuclear agreement - moving the country closer to creating the nuclear weapon that America and Israel have vowed to stop them developing.