Royal Navy chiefs locked in crisis talks over Iranian spy ship in Red Sea

The 17,000-tonne MV Behshad, manned by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. is thought to have coordinated Friday’s missile strike on the oil tanker Marlin Luanda.

Though the vessel has been operating with impunity for several weeks, this latest incident has sparked heated debate among senior commanders in the US-led coalition on how to deal with the command vessel.

Sinking it has already been ruled out, sources say, largely over fears that it would escalate the conflict and play into Iran’s hands.

Other options remain, however. These include neutralizing the vessel’s ability to communicate, thereby cutting her off from IRGC commanders overseeing Houthi operations on the ground in Yemen.

The advantage here, commanders say, is that it would not lead to casualties.

A senior source said: “Iran realises that we are unlikely to sink the Behshad as this will escalate the conflict in the region. At the same time, it is sitting in plain sight directing fire missions on international shipping, and there is a determination that this cannot be allowed to continue.”

The spy ship also possesses the sophisticated electronic capability to mount network attacks of its own.

Both the Royal Navy’s Red Sea assets, the destroyer HMS Diamond and the frigate HMS Richmond, have implemented “counter measures” to ensure the Iranians cannot intercept their communications.

A third British warship, the frigate HMS Lancaster, will be sent to the Red Sea from Bahrain to contribute to an existing operation to intercept arms deliveries from Iran to Yemen.

Houthi militants began the sea terror campaign last year in support of Hamas, another Iran-backed terror group currently at the centre of a war with Israel. But it increased its targets from Israeli -linked vessels to include British and US ships after an Anglo-US airstrikes on Houthi launch sites two weeks ago.

Though it was flying a Marshall islands flag, the Marlin Luanda is registered to Oceonix Services Ltd, a UK company.

So far there have been eight airstrikes – two involving the UK – on more than a hundred Houthi radar systems, drone storage and launch sites as well as command and control nodes.

Both US President Biden and PM Rishi Sunak have vowed that the strikes will continue, despite criticism that they are not hampering Houthi attacks quickly enough.

“If necessary, the United Kingdom will not hesitate to respond again in self-defence,” the PM told parliament last week, adding: “We cannot stand by and allow these attacks to go unchallenged. Inaction is also a choice.”

Meanwhile, warships escorting commercial vessels through the Red Sea are facing a new threat from deadly mines.

The Iranian-made Masjur, which sits on the sea bed, can detect a ship’s acoustic signature, then lock on to the target.

Its Soviet-era software can distinguish between military and commercial ships, ensuring Yemeni fishing vessels are not threatened.

The mines increase the threat to HMS Diamond, HMS Richmond and other members of the US-led naval coalition Operation Prosperity Guardian, which is tasked with safeguarding the passage of commercial vessels.

A recent collision between two Royal Navy minesweepers in Bahrain has left the UK unable to fulfill its usual role of providing comprehensive mine hunting services for its US allies.

The temporary loss of Hunt-class HMS Chiddingfold and older Sandown-class HMS Bangor means that there is only one British minesweeper – HMS MIddleton – in the region that can be deployed to the Red Sea quickly.

Two other Hunt class mine hunters are scheduled to be sent to the Red Sea from their base in Portsmouth, but it will take between two to three weeks before they arrive.

In separate news, the UK last night joined the US in pausing funding to the UN’s Relief and Works Agency amid allegations that several members of staff participated in the 7 October terror attacks, which saw more than 1,200 men, women and children murdered – many in their homes – during a surprise cross-border invasion by Hamas militants.

UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini confirmed that he had “immediately terminated” the contracts of staff members said to have been involved.