Iran summons UK ambassador over the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker

Tabnak – Claiming to be enforcing oil sanctions against Damascus, the British forces has seized an Iranian tanker carrying oil to Syria. While denouncing the move as illegal, Iranian foreign ministry summoned the British ambassador to Tehran to formally declare Iran’s protest.

According to Press TV, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s ambassador to the country after British forces seized an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar. Rob Macaire was summoned to the ministry on Thursday, hours after reports emerged that the vessel had been boarded by British Royal Marines and impounded.

Later in the day, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Moussavi took part in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)’s News Network, saying, "We declared to the ambassador that this move amounts to strange unconventionality, because the sanctions that they have announced are not based on the Security Council [resolutions] and the Islamic Republic of Iran does not accept this measure (seizure of the tanker).”

The Iranian diplomat further stated that the Spanish Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the move was made at the request of the US and that the seizure amounted to “implementation of a type of extraterritorial sanctions despite the fact that the European Union has invariably been against such bans.”

Moussavi said that Iran denounces the seizure as "a destructive step," which contributes to further escalation in regional tensions.

Citing a Spanish source, France 24 reported earlier that the tanker had been seized by Britain at the US request. The government in the British overseas territory said port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by the Royal Marines, boarded the Grace 1 supertanker on Thursday.

Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, says in a statement: “We have detained the vessel and its cargo. This action arose from information giving the Gibraltar government reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel, the Grace 1, was acting in breach of EU sanctions against Syria.”

British Prime minister Theresa May’s official spokesperson says: “We welcome this firm action to enforce EU sanctions against the Syrian regime and commend the Gibraltarian authorities involved in successfully carrying out this morning’s operation.”

However, experts believe that the measure taken by the British government in seizing the Syria-bound Iranian tanker is illegal and can have serious consequences for the government in London.

Since Iran's tanker was carrying fuel and oil to Syrian people for solely humanitarian purposes, the measure taken by the British government is not only illegal, but also inhumane.

The US has avowed an intention to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero” as part of the sanctions that it reinstated after leaving a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran last year. Both Washington’s withdrawal from the deal and its reintroduction of the sanctions came while the accord has been ratified in the form of the United Nations Security Resolution 2231.

Europe has suspended its trade with Iran, knuckling under the sanctions, despite being obliged by the agreement to safeguard Iran’s business interests. Observers deem the seizure of the tanker on Washington’s apparent orders to be another instance of the European states’ non-commitment to the deal.