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Iran has pledged to respect "transit passage" of UNCLOS states in the Strait of Hormuz. The UK is a UNCLOS state, so I am not sure what Iran's legal justification would be here.
To be clear, Iran has signed UNCLOS, but it has not ratified it. Still, it has not withdrawn its signature, and still has a general obligation not to undermine the treaty's object and purpose. So it needs to provide a legal basis for its action.
The UK made its legal position on the tanker seized in Gibraltar pretty clear. The tanker was passing in UK territorial waters and it was headed to Syria in violation of EU sanctions on shipments to the Syrian govt. This is a reasonable legal position. theguardian.com/world/2019/jul…
There are reasonable challenges than can be made to the UK's legal position. But Iran's govt calling that action piracy, and then apparently retaliating in this not obviously legal way is not likely to bolster Iran's legal (or its overall political) position either.
