Iran’s top leader says UK piracy will not go unanswered

Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that his country will retaliate to UK’s “piracy” over the seizure of an Iranian tanker by British authorities.

Khamenei in a televised speech said: “God willing, the Islamic Republic and its committed forces will not leave this evilness without a response.”

The Iranian supertanker, carrying 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil, was seized with the help of British Royal Marines earlier this month off Gibraltar on suspicion it was breaking European sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

Iran has called on Britain to immediately release the oil tanker.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Saturday that Britain will facilitate the release of the ship if Iran can provide guarantees the vessel will not breach European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria. Tensions have soared in the Persian Gulf over the past year as the Trump administration has ramped up sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.