Media reports on Thursday quoted Mohammad Dehghan, the legal adviser to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as saying that Iran would retaliate if its ships were seized.
Dehghan added that the legal course regarding responding to the seizure of Iranian vessels is open.
He also mentioned that he was unaware if Washington had recently seized an Iranian oil tanker, noting that it is up to the Ministry of Oil and associated oil companies to comment on that.
Dehghan stated that the United States sometimes seizes a ship and mistakenly declares it to be owned by Iran, according to his expression.
The comments by the Iranian President’s adviser come a week after the U.S. Department of Justice announced the seizure of over 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil worth $25 million, citing the enforcement of sanctions targeting networks supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
These statements come amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran following attacks targeting U.S. forces in the region and recent strikes by the U.S. military against groups described as Iranian-backed in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
Last January, Tehran announced that its naval forces had seized a U.S. oil tanker in the Sea of Oman in response to the United States’ detention of the same tanker and seizure of its cargo of Iranian oil the previous year.
Last year, Iranian forces detained ships and oil tankers on charges of smuggling Iranian oil.
A rocket launched by Iranian forces during maneuvers held in January last year (French).
Military Systems
Elsewhere, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces announced testing new military defense systems on the disputed islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb with the UAE in the Gulf waters.
Iranian television reported that the naval forces showcased equipped systems with new “Power” bombs and “Cruise” missiles that can be launched from mobile bases on the three islands.
The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s naval forces, Ali Reza Tangsiri, stated that experts have succeeded in developing three local boats capable of hitting targets 30 kilometers away.
The commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s air forces, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, mentioned that the U.S. military does not seek conflict with Iran because it is incapable of resisting its defenses, according to him.
