Iran warns UK over seizure of supertanker
Print Edition
Iran鈥檚 president said yesterday that Britain will face 鈥渞epercussions鈥 over the seizure of an Iranian supertanker last week that authorities in Gibraltar suspect were breaching European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria.
Iran鈥檚 President Hassan Rouhani was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as calling the seizure 鈥渕ean and wrong鈥 during a Cabinet meeting.
鈥淵ou are an initiator of insecurity and you will understand its repercussions,鈥 he warned the British government, calling for the 鈥渇ull security鈥 of international shipping lanes.
The tanker鈥檚 detention comes at a particularly sensitive time as tensions between the United State and Iran grow over the unraveling of the 2015 nuclear deal, from which US President Donald Trump withdrew last year.
In recent weeks, Iran has begun to openly breach limits on uranium enrichment set by the deal in order to pressure European signatories to salvage it.
Iran鈥檚 Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanwhile, denied the supertanker belonged to Iran, saying whoever owned the oil shipment and the vessel could pursue the case through legal avenues.
Iran had earlier summoned the British ambassador over what it called the 鈥渋llegal interception鈥 of the ship.
A senior Iranian security official said yesterday that Iran will not reverse its decision to increase uranium enrichment beyond the limits set by the accord until it achieves its 鈥渇ull rights鈥 under the deal.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran鈥檚 Supreme National Security Council, told a French envoy that the decision to increase enrichment is an 鈥渦nchangeable strategy鈥 and criticized European countries for their 鈥渓ack of will鈥 in providing relief from the US sanctions, according to the official IRNA news agency.
But the US yesterday urged the signatories to the nuclear deal not to give in to Iran鈥檚 demands by providing new economic incentives to get it to pull back from its recent escalation of its atomic program.
Jackie Wolcott, US ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, told an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting that Iran鈥檚 recent moves to enrich uranium beyond the deal鈥檚 limits amounted to 鈥渘uclear extortion.鈥
France and other countries have called on Iran to go back to complying with the nuclear deal.
Emmanuel Bonne, a French presidential envoy, is in Iran this week for talks aimed at resolving the crisis.
In the deal with the Obama administration, Iran had agreed to curb its nuclear activities. It has offered to return to the agreement but Trump has long rejected the deal, saying it was too generous to Tehran.
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