Iran fails to make good on pledge to target UK interests in the Gulf

Islam Mohamed

Iranian leaders have come short of making good on threats by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corpse of attacking British ships in the Arab Gulf. They only tried to harass a British oil tanker. However, they soon denied any links with the incident in this regard.

British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said he told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif that London was ease the release of Iranian oil tanker Grace I only if it received guarantees that the tanker would not head to Syria after its release.

Hunt said Zarif had told him that Tehran wanted to settle the issue without further escalation.

Police in Gibraltar had released the crew of the Iranian oil tanker on bail, without charging its members.

It said the release of the fur-member team came two days after they were detained.

Police noted that investigations would continue to be made on violations committed by the ship of European Union sanctions on Syria.

The Iranian oil tanker was stopped in Gibraltar earlier this month on charges of breaching European sanctions on Syria.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo said the Iranian tanker carried 2.1 million tons of light crude oil.

Iranian affairs specialist Mohamed Abadi said Iranian leaders did nothing, even as they vowed to target British interests in the Gulf.

He told The Reference that Iran is backtracking especially after the emergence of news about the formation of an international coalition for the protection of maritime corridors, especially in the Gulf region.

“Iran is afraid that its isolation will increase,” Abadi said. “This is why it tries to gloss over its position by making herculean statements.”