FOREIGN Secretary Jeremy Hunt said yesterday that there is a “great risk” of a drift to war with Iran following the attacks last week on two oil tankers in the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has joined Britain and the United States in blaming the Iranians for the attacks – a claim which Tehran has strongly denied.

The incidents caused oil prices to soar amid heightened fears of a conflict in the region causing major disruption to world supplies.

Despite the UK having formally joined the US in attributing the attacks to Iran on Friday night, Hunt said Britain was urging all sides in the dispute to “de-escalate” in order to avoid a slide into armed conflict.

“This is the great risk of the situation that we are in. Both sides in this dispute think that the other side wouldn’t want a war. We are urging all sides to de-escalate,” he told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show.

“We have done our own intelligence assessment. We have got videos of what happened. We have seen evidence. We don’t believe anyone else could have done this. Having spoken to President Trump, I am absolutely clear that for America they want this to end in negotiations.

“Let’s see Iran stop its destabilising activities in Lebanon through Hezbollah, in Yemen where they are firing missiles into Saudi Arabia, on the Gulf as we have seen. That is the long-term solution.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Britain should be acting to ease tensions in the gulf rather than “fuel a military escalation that began with US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement”.

“Without credible evidence about the tanker attacks, the Government’s rhetoric will only increase the threat of war,” he said.

Hunt in turn accused Corbyn of “virulent anti-Americanism."

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

The Americans have accused Iran of using 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.

In recent weeks, the US has sent an aircraft carrier strike group and other military assets to the region in what the military says is defensive posturing aimed at Iranian deterrence.

Britain’s ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, yesterday denied Iranian media reports that he had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in protest at the UK’s “unacceptable anti-Iran stances”.

Macaire said he had sought the meeting himself. “Interesting. And news to me,” he tweeted. “I asked for an urgent meeting with the Foreign Ministry yesterday and it was granted. No ‘summons’. Of course if formally summoned I would always respond, as would all ambassadors.”

The US has released footage to back up the claim that an unexploded mine was taken off one of the tankers by Iranian special forces.

However, the Japanese owner of one of the tankers has said the ship was hit by a projectile rather than a mine. “We received reports that something flew towards the ship,” said Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo.

Some shipping companies have now ordered their ships not to enter the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the attacks.

Yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said they confirmed “the importance of our demands of the international community to take a decisive stance” against Iran.

Bin Salman also touted US-Saudi relations as “essential to achieving regional security and stability”.

“The kingdom does not seek war in the region but we will not hesitate to deal with any threat to our people, sovereignty and vital interests,” Bin Salman said.

“The problem is in Tehran and not anywhere else. Iran is always the party that’s escalating in the region, carrying out terrorist attacks and criminal attacks either directly or through its militias.

“The choice before Iran is clear. Do you want to be a normal state with a constructive role in the international community or do you want to be a rogue state?”Last month, an English-language Saudi newspaper close to the palace called for the US to launch “surgical” strikes against Iran in retaliation for the earlier vessel and pipeline attacks.

Saudi Arabia accused Iran of arming Yemen’s Houthis, who claimed responsibility for the pipeline attack and a subsequent missile strike on a Saudi airport that wounded 26 passengers.

Saudi Arabia has been at war against the Houthis since early 2015.

Speaking on Fox News yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated his country’s official position. He claimed intelligence officials had “lots of data, lots of evidence” tying Iran to the attacks, although he did not provide any specifics.