Iran has issued a stark warning to Britain , urging it not to “escalate the crisis” in the Middle East by sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s deputy foreign minister said that the presence of French and British warships in the key shipping route, effectively controlled by Tehran in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks, “will be met with a decisive and immediate response”. It comes after the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Royal Navy was sending the HMS Dragon warship to the Middle East, where it could join an international mission to safeguard shipping in the Strait of Hormuz . Sir Keir Starmer has said the mission, planned alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, would only take place once fighting in the region ends. A ceasefire has been in place between the US and Iran since April, but both countries have accused each other of launching attacks in the strait, where 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquified natural gas is transported through.…