Iran threatens to seize British ship; Gibraltar court extends Iranian tanker’s detention

(AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

Royal Marine patrol vessel is seen beside the Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, Thursday, July 4, 2019.

A Gibraltar court extended the tanker’s detention for 14 days, ignoring Iran’s threats of retaliation

Senior Iranian officials threatened Friday morning to seize a UK ship as a form of retaliation if it does not release the Iranian oil supertanker seized in the Gulf of Gibraltar on its way to Syria.

“If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it will be the duty of the authorities to take over a British oil tanker,” Mushayn Rezai said on Twitter.

Ignoring the Iranian vows of retaliation, a Gibraltar court on Friday evening extended the tanker’s detention for fourteen days.

A senior Iranian foreign ministry official “called for the immediate release of the oil tanker, given that it has been seized at the request of the US, based on the information currently available”, a statement released by the foreign ministry said.

The Iranian oil supertanker headed for Syria in violation of EU sanctions was detained in Gibraltar on Thursday, in a move that Iran condemned as an “illegal interception.”

This comes amid deteriorating relations between Europe and Iran, as Western capitals slowly fall in line with US policy over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday it would step up uranium enrichment on July 7.

Rouhani said explicitly this was in response to failure by the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal to circumvent US sanctions – even though they originally promised to do so.

The noose around Iran’s economic power is tightening, with US rhetoric slowly moving towards depressing Iran’s influence over the region and the world.

As part of this strategy, Washington has led a rapprochement between Gulf countries and Israel, building a tacit anti-Iran coalition.