"I think the question of a European mission will be discussed there again because this discussion has not yet taken place everywhere and so I believe that the Finnish presidency will play a coordinating role on that," Merkel told a news conference after meeting visiting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

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EU foreign and defense ministers are due to hold informal meetings in Helsinki in late August. Finland took over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.

Britain last week joined the United States in a maritime security mission in the Persian Gulf to protect merchant vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran seized a British-flagged vessel. Two weeks beforehand, Britain had called for a European-led naval mission.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said that Germany will not join a US-led naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz and that it favors a European mission but he has also warned it was rather difficult to make progress on that.

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"The United States 5th Fleet is aware of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy's unlawful harassment and attempts to interfere with the passage of the UK-flagged merchant vessel British Heritage on 10 July, near the Strait of Hormuz," Vice Admiral Jim Malloy, commander of the US 5th Fleet, added in a statement.

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Last week, British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, off Gibraltar and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking EU sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

Earlier Thursday, a deputy commander of the IRGC warned Britain and the US that they would regret detaining the Iranian oil tanker.

"The American government … and also England … should not have taken action if they had made the smallest calculation," said Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi.

"We had rented this ship and we carried the cargo. Their action was very foolish and they will certainly regret it. Our reciprocal action will be announced," he said.

Earlier this, meanwhile, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford announced the US was moving ahead with plans to build a coalition of nations to monitor and deter Iranian threats against commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf.

Dunford said the Pentagon has developed a specific plan and that he believes it will be clear within a couple of weeks which nations are willing to join the effort.

Dunford said he discussed the matter Tuesday with acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and that plans are coming together.

"We're getting ready now to move out," Dunford told a small group of reporters at Fort Myer, Virginia. "We have a pretty clear concept of what we want to do."

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In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC rejected the US claim, according to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency.

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"In the past 24 hours there has been no encounter with foreign ships including English ships," the statement said.

The British defense ministry had no immediate comment.

The alleged incident occurred almost a week after British Royal Marines boarded an Iranian tanker, Grace 1, off Gibraltar and seized it on suspicion that it was breaking sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Britain would face "consequences" over the seizure of the Iranian tanker.

Tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies have risen sharply since Washington stepped up economic sanctions against Iran and moved to bring the country's oil exports to zero as part of a "maximum pressure" policy to make Iran halt actions that undermine regional security.

Iran has responded to the sanctions by starting to breach limits put on its nuclear activities under a 2015 deal with world powers.

Several oil tankers were attacked in waters near Iran's southern coast in May and June, for which the United States blamed Iran. Tehran denied any involvement.

Last month, Iran shot down a US drone near the Strait of Hormuz, prompting US President Donald Trump to order retaliatory airstrikes, only to call them off.

The US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday's incident happened as the vessel British Heritage was at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Royal Navy HMS Montrose, which was also there, pointed its guns at the boats and warned them over radio, at which point they dispersed," one of the officials said.

"It was harassment and an attempt to interfere with the passage," the other official said.

The United States hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday.

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