Ayatollah Khamenei:

Iran not to leave UK piracy unanswered

TEHRAN (defapress) – Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei slammed the UK’s illegal seizure of an Iranian supertanker in Gibraltar, saying the act of “piracy” will not go unanswered.

News ID: 78087

Date: 16 July 2019 - 16:01

“The wicked Britain commits an act of maritime piracy and steals our ship… They [the British] perpetrate a crime and make it look legal,” Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks at a meeting with Friday prayers leaders from across Iran on Tuesday in Tehran.

“The Islamic Republic and faithful elements of the establishment will not leave this wickedness unanswered and will respond to it at an appropriate time and place,” the Leader added.

Gibraltar police and customs agencies, aided by a detachment of British Royal Marines, boarded and impounded supertanker Grace 1, on suspicion of carrying crude to Syria in breach of the European Union’s unilateral bans on the Arab state.

Reports say the seizure took place at the request of the United States, which has been bent on driving Iranian oil exports to “zero” as part of its sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the western governments' major vice is their arrogance in treating the rest of the world.

“If the country opposing them is a weak one, their arrogance works; but if it's a country that knows and stands against them, they will be defeated,” he said, adding that “regarding our ties with Europeans, what makes problems persist is their arrogance.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader referred to the 2015 nuclear deal, and recent developments over the matter, saying, “According to our Foreign Minister, Europe made 11 commitments, none of which they abided by.”

“We abided by our commitments and even beyond them. Now that we've begun to reduce our commitments, they oppose it. How insolent! You didn't abide by your commitments!”

“Iran will continue the process of cutting down on its JCPOA commitments,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

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