Tanker dispute continue to overshadow Iran-UK relations

Tabnak – After the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker with the pretext that it was carrying oil for Syria, the UK has claimed its own tankers have been threatened by Iran in the Persian Gulf. While denying the claims on the latter issue, Iranian officials warn that London’s hostile act may have serious implications.

In this vein, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has dismissed a claim by US officials that its naval forces tried to stop a British tanker in the Persian Gulf.

Early on Thursday, two American officials, who were speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, claimed that five boats believed to belong to the IRGC had approached the tanker British Heritage at the northern entrance of the Strait of Hormuz and ordered it to stop.

The Iranian boats dispersed, said one of the sources, after the UK’s Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose, which had been escorting the tanker, “pointed its guns at the boats and warned them over radio.”

However, the IRGC rejected the US officials’ claim, stressing that Iranian boats were carrying out their normal duties.

“Patrols by the IRGC’s Navy vessels have been underway in the Persian Gulf based on current procedures and missions assigned to them with vigilance, precision and strength,” said the Public Relations Department of the IRGC Navy’s Fifth Naval Zone in a statement.

“In the past 24 hours, there has been no encounter with foreign ships, including British ones,” it added.

The statement further noted that the IRGC Navy’s fifth zone has the power to act “decisively and swiftly” and seize foreign vessels in the area it is tasked with patrolling if an order is issued to that effect.

Meanwhile, the second-in-command of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns that the United Kingdom and the United States will soon seriously regret the recent seizure of supertanker carrying Iranian oil.

Speaking from the central Iranian province of Isfahan on Thursday, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi dismissed the confiscation of the tanker carrying Iran's oil as a worthless action, saying, “The enemies would have not undertaken such measures had they chosen to exercise the least bit of prudence.”

He also reminded that the vessel had been leased by Iran for freight purposes. “They [the US and the UK], however, took such a move (seizure of the tanker), and will seriously repent doing it,” the commander added.

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani likewise warned the UK about the “consequences” of the confiscation. “I remind [this] to the Britons,” he cautioned, “You are the ones initiating insecurity, and will come to realize its consequences in the future.”