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IRAN-BRITAIN-DIPLOMACY-SYRIA-CONFLICT
Iran’s Rouhani warns UK of tanker seizure ‘consequences’
TEHRAN, July 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warned
Britain on Wednesday of “consequences” over the detention of an Iranian oil
tanker off the coast of Gibraltar.
“I point out to the British that you initiated insecurity (on the seas)
and you shall grasp the consequences of it later on,” Rouhani said in
comments to the cabinet broadcast by state TV.
Iran’s president called the seizure of the tanker “a foolish act.”
The 330 metre (1,000 feet) Grace 1 tanker, capable of carrying two million
barrels of oil, was halted on Thursday by police and customs in Gibraltar —
a tiny British overseas territory on Spain’s southern tip — with the aid of
a detachment of British Royal Marines.
Iran condemned the detention as an “illegal interception,” but Gibraltar
officials said that the cargo was believed to be destined for Syria, which is
subject to European sanctions.
Iran denied this, saying that the destination “was somewhere else.”
“The port named in Syria does not even have the capacity for such a
supertanker to dock,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said
Sunday.
Iran’s defence minister vowed Monday to respond to Britain’s move.
Calling the tanker’s seizure an act of maritime piracy, Brigadier-General
Amir Hatami said it “will not be tolerated by us and will not go without a
response.”
Gibraltar’s supreme court ruled Friday that the tanker can be held for 14
more days, the territory’s attorney general said.
The territory’s government said in a statement Monday that the tanker was
“well inside” British Gibraltar Territorial Waters when it was boarded,
having “previously exited the international waters of the Straits of
Gibraltar”.
The secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, a key advisory and arbitration
body, warned that if Britain failed to release the tanker Iran would be
forced to take tit-for-tat action.
“If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the relevant
authorities will be duty-bound to take reciprocal action and seize a British
oil tanker,” said council secretary Mohsen Rezai.
BSS/AFP/RY/1802 hrs