ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei warned the United Kingdom on Tuesday that Tehran will respond to the “wicked act” of the British Royal Marine’s seizure of a supertanker near the Strait of Hormuz that is believed to be carrying Iranian oil to Syria, a violation of European Union sanctions.
“In the midst of these unreasonable actions, this malign Britain commits piracy and steals our ship. It commits crime under a legal veil. The Islamic Republic and devout members of the establishment will not leave these wicked acts without answer," Ayatollah Khamenei said from Tehran to a group of Friday preachers.
The Grace 1, the Panamanian-flagged supertanker in question, remained anchored east of the Strait of Gibraltar on Tuesday, according to international ship tracker Marine Traffic. British forces with the knowledge of the Gibraltar government seized the ship that is believed to be carrying more than 2 million barrels of Iranian oil to Syria on July 4, a violation of EU sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government encouraged European countries to stand strong in the face of mounting US sanctions on Tehran, as the European Parliament is convening and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu told Brussels to "wake up."
"Instead of holding meetings to pressure Iran, the European countries should pressure America to abandon its cruel sanctions against people of Iran," Iranian VP Eshaq Jahangiri said Tuesday.
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, last year. Rounds of sanctions which predated the landmark 2005 accord have been re-implemented by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
"If we can’t benefit from JCPOA, we would reduce our commitment so the world knows they are dealing with a country with civilization not a country without will power," he added at a national congress for education where students and educators were attending ahead of the start of the next school year.
He highlighted that "advanced and industrialized countries invest in the elite," while some other countries often benefit from Iran's loss of intellectuals.
EU Commission President-Nominee Ursula von der Leyen faces a confirmation vote at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Tuesday. Von der Leyen, 60, is Germany's defense minister and a stalwart in the European political arena.
Israel's incumbent prime minister, who is facing his own snap elections following unsuccessful previous efforts this year to form a new coalition government, fired sharp comments at the gathering European leaders on Monday.
"It seems there are those in Europe who will not wake up until Iranian nuclear missiles land on European soil. By then it will be too late," Netanyahu
in a video posted on his personal Twitter account.
Facing the mounting sanctions, Iran
Europe as a possible lifeboat for its drowning economy. Several European states have been reliant on Iranian natural gas to fuel industry.
“We will sell our oil eventually, but never sell our honor,” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told BBC Hardtalk in an interview that will run in full on Wednesday, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars agency.
JCPOA cosigners in addition to Washington and Tehran include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, and China. Germany in particular has been heavily dependent on Russian and Iranian natural gas, even as it attempts to wean itself off carbon energy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with several European counterparts at ministerial-level meetings about the JCPOA on Monday. He
that Moscow wants to resolve the issue with “comprehensive dialogue” with cooperation with the European Union, according to state-run TASS news agency.
“[I]t was stressed that unilateral restrictions that restrain the development of trade and economic ties between the countries, and other steps fraught with the erosion of the system of international law and the emergence of new division lines in Europe, are counterproductive,” Lavrov said.
Additional reporting by Fazel Hawramy
