Iran Press/ Iran news: The Joint Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri said the illegal seizure of an Iranian-operated supertanker by Britain's Royal Navy will not go unanswered.
According to a Mehr News Agency report, Bagheri said on Tuesday: "The UK’s action was in retaliation for the Iranian Armed Forces’ brave move -- the shooting down of an intruding enemy spy drone. The UK’s move will not go unanswered; if necessary, Iran will give a proper response to the illegal seizure of the supertanker at an appropriate time and place of our choosing."
Major General Bagheri went on to say that Iran has achieved a good level of military deterrence and it was proven in the case of the downing of the US’ Global Hawk drone right after violating Iran's airspace. He added: "The missile and other hardware used to bring down the intrudiung US drone were all Iranian-made.
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"The enemy has failed to achieve its goals and it has been so much humiliated that it doesn’t know how to act," he added.
"We are neither afraid of war, nor embrace it. Iranian Armed Forces, under the command of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, are ready with fingers on trigger to respond to any hostile enemy measure."
Gibraltar police and customs agencies, aided by a detachment of British Royal Marines, boarded and impounded supertanker Grace 1, carrying Iranian oil, in the Strait of Gibraltar last Thursday. United States had requested Britain to impound the supertanker.
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Later that day, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador to the country, Rob Macaire, to express its strong protest at the move. He was told that the British Royal Marines’ move was tantamount to maritime piracy.
London claims that the tanker had been carrying Iranian oil to Syria, which is under European Union’s sanctions but Iran says the tanker was not headed to Syria, and secondly, Iran is not a member of the EU, and also not subject to any European oil embargo.
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