British marine force heads to Gulf to protect British ships

British Royal Marines are being sent to the Gulf to protect British warships as Iran and the West come closer to a possible conflict, following attacks on two oil tankers last week, according to The Sunday Times.

The paper quoted military sources as saying that 100 marines from 42 Commando, based near Plymouth, would form a rapid reaction force, Special Purpose Task Group 19.

“They will operate from navy ships patrolling the region from Britain’s new naval base in Bahrain,” according to the source.

Their deployment comes as British military and intelligence officials join an international investigation into last week’s events involving oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, which America and Britain blamed on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”