BALADI NEWS
Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened to seize a British oil tanker in a tit-for-tat move, after British Royal Marines boarded and seized its oil tanker off Gibraltar a day ago after it took a long 90-day trek around the tip of Africa, presumably to evade sanctions enforcement en route to Syria.
The IRGC even went so far as to issue a statement saying it was Tehran's "duty" to respond in kind. According to Middle East war correspondent Elijah Magnier, IRGC sources said they could:
"Potentially stop any tanker headed towards the UK and sailing in the Gulf."
Authorities had accused the Grace 1 supertanker of illegal smuggling as it had reportedly been transiting some 2 million barrels of Iranian oil.
Following the incident, Iran's foreign ministry had immediately summoned the UK ambassador over the incident, saying the move was "unacceptable". An official statement of protest 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," the statement added.
Iran's position is that the EU sanctions on Syria have not been endorsed by the UN, while the US received the news as a positive development in the global crackdown on Iranian oil. "Excellent news: UK has detained the supertanker Grace I laden with Iranian oil bound for Syria in violation of EU sanctions," John Bolton said on Twitter.
But Syria and Iran as well as some Arab commentators have shot back that the some few dozen Royal Marines seizing the tanker by fast-roping in on helicopter amounts to "piracy".
Source: Oilprice.com