Iran announces first move against US for seizing 4 fuel tankers

On Wednesday, the Iranian authorities announced that they have filed a complaint with the International Shipping Corporation against the United States for the latter’s seizure of ships transporting Iranian fuel to Venezuela.

Jalil Islami, vice president of the Iranian Shipping and Ports Corporation, said, “The corporation has lodged a complaint with the International Maritime Organization against Washington for stopping ships carrying Iranian fuel exported to Venezuela,” according to the Iranian Mehr agency .

He added that “Iranian fuel and oil derivatives should be exported, according to government policies,” noting that “Tehran seeks in order for U.S. sanctions not to impede the export of oil derivatives and other goods.”

Iranian Oil Minister, Bajin Zanjaneh, issued a declaration describing it as the first admission of its kind, regarding the oil tankers that America confiscated last month.

The Iranian Oil Minister said, in statements carried by the Bloomberg agency, that the four oil tankers that were confiscated by America last month, en route to Venezuela, were shipped from Iran.

For his part, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stressed that “the ships that the United States seized and claimed to be Iranian were not Iranian and did not carry Iran’s flag .”

Rouhani said, during a meeting of the National Committee to Combat Coronavirus, “This lie was to cover up the shame that befell the United States in the Security Council after rejecting its draft resolution to extend the embargo on Iran.”