[ad_1]
Iranian President Hbadan Rouhani appears to have hinted that if the United Kingdom releases an Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month, his country would return a British-flagged ship that he seized the week before. last.
"If Britain moves away from bad actions in Gibraltar, she will receive an appropriate response from Iran," Rouhani said Wednesday at a weekly cabinet meeting.
The supertanker Grace-1 was arrested on July 4 off the British overseas territories on the south coast of Spain. on suspicion that he was shipping oil to Syria, in violation of European Union punishments. Some Two weeks later, Iran seized Stena Impero, under the British flag, in the strait of strategic importance, claiming that it had collided with a fishing vessel and violated international law.
London and Tehran denied the charges in turn and fell into a dispute over ship seizures as tensions rose between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Ormuz, tIt is the most important oil route in the world.
"It was the first time that he [Rouhani] seemed to tie the seizure of a ship by the Corps of Guardians of the Revolution (IRGC) it was less than a week ago at the seizure in Gibraltar of the Iranian tanker, "said Zein Basravi of Al Jazeera, reporting from Tehran
"Does this perhaps suggest that the liberation of their ship will prompt Iran to release the British flag ship?" Iran continues to say that her seizure of the vessel was legal, that it was "illegal". he had wandered into Iranian territorial waters, so maybe not – but it's certainly a hat-trick in that direction. "
Iran seizes Stena Impero, under British flag, south of Larak Island, in the Strait of Ormuz, claiming that he had collided with a fishing boat and was violating international law.
Also on Wednesday, an Iranian official announced that the United Kingdom had sent a mediator to Iran to discuss the release of Stena Impero.
Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the Supreme Leader's office, provided no details of the British mediator's trip, but made an ironic reference to Britain's involvement in Iranian affairs at the time. 39, Colonial era.
"A country that at one point has appointed ministers and lawyers in Iran has now sent a mediator and pleaded for the release of his ship," said Mohammadi Golpayegani, according to the semi-official news website Tasnim.
However, a British diplomatic source denied that the United Kingdom sent such representatives.
"We are not aware of any representative sent as mediator to Iran," the source told the Reuters news agency.
Denial of Iranian drones intercepted
Tensions in the Gulf region are strong and the fear of a military confrontation between the United States and Iran.
Washington blames Tehran for a series of attacks launched since mid-May against ships traveling around the Straits of Ormuz, accusations denied by Iran.
Last month, Iran shot down a US military surveillance drone in the Gulf with a surface-to-air missile. Iran said the drone was in its airspace, but Washington said it was in international skies.
US President Donald Trump had said at the time that he was ready to hit three Iranian targets as a retaliation, but he canceled the operation at the last minute because such a response was n & # 39; 39 would not have been "proportionate".
"If the Americans rape Iran's airspace with another drone again, they will get the same answer," Rouhani said.
At the same time, the Iranian authorities have again denied that drones were intercepted after the US military announced that it was targeting two of them last week.
US Central Command said that an Iranian drone crashed into the sea after the USS Boxer took a "defensive action" against him last Thursday. He added that the Boxer had also "engaged" a second Iranian drone at the same time, but could not confirm that it had been destroyed.
General Amir Hatami, The Iranian Minister of Defense, told reporters Wednesday that "if someone claims that he should provide evidence", adding that "none of our drones have been intercepted".
Iran ready for "fair" negotiations
The current tensions between the United States and Iran result from last year's decision by Trump to pull the United States from a historic nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the world powers. Since then, Washington has reinstated radical sanctions against Tehran and has also strengthened its military presence in the region. .
Rouhani said Iran was ready for "fair" negotiations – but not if they meant surrendering.
It seemed to refer to possible negotiations with the United States.
"As long as I have responsibility for the executive tasks of the country, we are quite ready for fair, legal and honest negotiations to solve the problems," said Rouhani, according to his official website.
"But at the same time, we are not ready to sit at the table of surrender under the name of negotiations."
The Iranian president also warned that if the negotiations with the remaining signatories of the nuclear agreement did not succeed, Iran would go a step further by "reducing the commitments we made in the of the agreement at the end of the 60-day period ".
Diplomatic efforts have intensified since July 7, when Iran increased the level of uranium enrichment from 3.67% to 4.5% – just above the limit set in the agreement – after the expiry of the two-month deadline that he had set to the European powers to protect him. US sanctions. The following day, Tehran gave Europe another 60 days to put in place a mechanism to facilitate oil trade in the face of growing tensions between the United States and Iran and the international fears Washington's hawks are trying to bring about. countries in an armed confrontation.
[ad_2]
Source link
