Iran’s Guards warn US, UK will ‘strongly regret’ tanker seizure

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say that the United States and Britain will “strongly regret” the seizure of a tanker off Gibraltar, the semi-official Fars News Agency reports.

“If the enemy had made the smallest assessment they wouldn’t have done this act,” says Rear-Admiral Ali Fadavi, deputy commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, referring to the seizure of an oil tanker late last week by Gibraltar’s police aided by British Royal Marines.

He adds that the seizure of the tanker was “stupidity… a trait the American President has in spades and the British to some extent.”

The Guards also deny that they had in turn impeded a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in a statement published by the force’s Sepahnews site.

“There has been no confrontation in the last 24 hours with any foreign vessels, including British ones,” the statement says.

— AFP