Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of reports of a US Navy warship firing a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

We do not routinely comment on intelligence matters or specific threats. The UK is committed to upholding the essential principle of freedom of navigation, in accordance with international law and assuring the safety of shipping in the Middle East region, including through the Strait of Hormuz. The UK is a member of the International Maritime Security Construct which addresses the threat in the region by providing reassurance to commercial shipping and deterring further threats.

The UK Government has long been clear about its concerns over the continued destabilising activity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The UK maintains a range of sanctions that work to constrain the destabilising activity of the IRGC.