Iran will respond firmly to any Israeli naval action against its oil shipments, Iran’s defence minister says in comments that came a week after Israel’s prime minister said its navy could act against Iranian oil “smuggling” to evade US sanctions.
US President Donald Trump last year quit a nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed some sanctions, aiming to cut Tehran’s oil exports to zero.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told naval officers last week that Iran was still resorting to clandestine measures to ship fuel.
Iran’s Minister of Defence Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA that Tehran had the military capabilities to confront any Israeli intervention, and said the international community would also not accept such action.
Hatami said such confrontation would be considered as “piracy” and warned that “if it happens, we will firmly respond.”
Read the article in the Herald Sun (Reuters).