Iran Press/Iran news: The Iranian ambassador to the UK, Hamid Baeidinejad said in a twitter message on Saturday that by its act of piracy, Britain has violated international law.
Baeidinejad said: "The continuation of the of the tanker's seizure means that the UK repeats its mistake and such a mistake will not be left unanswered," Iran Press reported.
On the other hand, UK foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said in his twitter account on Saturday that in a phone conversation with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has assured him that UK would facilitate release of Iranian tanker if it receives guarantees that it would not be going to Syria.
Jeremy Hunt also said in an interview with Sky news on Friday that Britain is not seeking to escalate the situation with Iran.
The British navy seized an Iranian tanker at Gibraltar on Thursday (July 4th) at the request of the United States.
London claims that the tanker had been carrying Iranian oil to Syria, which is under European Union’s sanctions but Iran says first, the tanker was not headed to Syria, and second, Iran is not an EU member and also not subject to any European oil embargo.
Iran’s Deputy FM Abbas Araghchi rejected the British claim, saying the tanker wasn’t heading for Syria at all.
The Spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Friday that the British Ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire has been summoned by the Iranian Foreign Ministry four times in the past week to elaborate on the latest news relating to the impounded Iranian supertanker.
Tehran has slammed the British move as piracy, urging the immediate release of the tanker. 101//211207
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