Middle East Desk
Report
TEHRAN: Iranian officials warned the United States against any attempt to block the fuel delivery by Iranian tankers to Venezuela.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday that “the illegal, dangerous and provocative U.S. threats” against the Iranian tankers is a form of piracy and a big threat to international peace and security.
“The United States must stop acting as a bully at the international level and respect the rule of international laws, in particular the right to free shipping in free waters,” he said in his letter.
Zarif noted that the U.S. administration would be responsible for the consequences of any “illegal move” in this regard.
Iran preserves the right to adopt appropriate and necessary measures in the face of such threats, he added.
In the day, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi summoned the Swiss ambassador, whose country represents U.S. interests in Tehran, to voice Iran’s strong protest at what he called U.S. “provocations.”
Araqchi urged the Swiss ambassador to convey “the Islamic Republic’s serious warnings to the American officials against any possible threat posed by the U.S. to the Iranian oil tankers.”
Iran and Venezuela enjoy “completely legitimate and legal trade relations,” Araqchi said. Araqchi also said that any threat against his country’s tankers will elicit Iran’s “immediate and categorical reaction, and the U.S. administration will be responsible for their consequences.”
