The game has changed. Dozens of oil tankers have just slipped through the Strait of Hormuz. The source?
A backchannel deal between Washington and Tehran. My contacts in the Ministry of Defence are livid. They were kept in the dark.
British maritime security is now scrambling. The Royal Navy is on high alert. This is not just about oil.
It is about leverage. The Americans have cut a side deal. Without telling us.
Without telling the Saudis. The whispers in Whitehall are furious. 'We have been hung out to dry,' one senior naval source told me.
The tankers are Iranian flagged. They are carrying crude. Where is it going?
That is the question everyone is asking. The smart money says it is heading to Chinese ports. But the real story is the diplomatic fallout.
The UK has been a key enforcer of the embargo. Now the rug has been pulled. What does this mean for the Iran nuclear deal?
Nothing good. The hawks in the Cabinet are sharpening their knives. They smell blood.
The PM's office is issuing bland statements about monitoring the situation. But this is a crisis. A full blown crisis.
The backbenchers are already drafting letters of no confidence. This deal stinks. And the stench is reaching Westminster.
