Unic Press UK: Tehran said Friday that London should immediately release an Iranian oil tanker – a 330 metre (1,000 feet) Grace 1 vessel – which the British Royal Marines impounded last week in the Strait of Gibraltar.
A statement from Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, reads:
“The documents and evidence and the contradictory remarks made by the British all indicate that London’s allegation, legally speaking, is not that significant and noteworthy unless they would want to enter into a dangerous game under the influence of the Americans with no end in sight,” Mousavi said.
Several sources claim that the UK forces seized the Iranian oil vessel at the instance of the U.S. government.
There’s been intense tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the years, escalating last year, May 8, 2018, when the U.S. government withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal – also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (JCPOA) – and imposed another round of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump had claimed that the JCPOA – Iran nuclear deal – remains a bad deal for the world and the United States, insisting that a new agreement is long overdue.
Washington says it’s open to a negotiation on a fresh deal, but Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said in May 2019 that there won’t be talks, labeling the U.S. a “bully.”
