Iran should seize a British oil tanker if an Iranian tanker detained off Gibraltar earlier this week is not released immediately, a former leader of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a tweet on Friday.
British Royal Marines seized the supertanker Grace 1 on Thursday for trying to take oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions, a dramatic step that drew Tehran's fury and could escalate its confrontation with the West.
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"If Britain does not release the Iranian oil tanker, it is the authorities' duty to seize a British oil tanker," said Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezai, who is also secretary of Iran's Expediency Council, a powerful state body.
"Islamic Iran in its 40-year history has never initiated hostilities in any battles but has also never hesitated in responding to bullies," Rezai said on his Twitter account.
While the European Union has banned oil shipments to war-torn Syria, a close ally of Iran, since 2011, it had never seized a tanker at sea. Unlike the United States, Europe does not have broad sanctions against Iran.
On Thursday, meanwhile, Iran said that "active resistance" was an antidote to US President Donald Trump's warning over Tehran's commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal, state TV reported.
"By exiting the nuclear deal, Trump has wounded the path of diplomacy. … The best antidote to all threats is active resistance," said spokesman of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Keyvan Khosravi.
"Iran is determined to go ahead with its plan to further scale back its nuclear commitments under the deal."
Trump warned Iran on Wednesday to "be careful with the threats. … They can come back to bite you like nobody has been."
Also Thursday, Iran's intelligence minister said Tehran and Washington could hold talks only if the US ended its sanctions and Iran's top authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave his approval, state news agency IRNA reported.
"Holding talks with America can be reviewed by Iran only if Trump lifts the sanctions and our supreme leader gives permission to hold such talks," Mahmoud Alavi said.
"Americans were scared of Iran's military power; that is the reason behind their decision to abort the decision to attack Iran," Alavi said, referring to an incident last month in which Trump said he aborted a military strike to retaliate for Iran's downing of an unmanned US drone over the Strait of Hormuz. The US president said he called off the attack because it could have killed 150 people.
Tehran said the surveillance drone had been shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in Iranian airspace, while Washington said it had been in international airspace.
The EU has urged Iran to stick to the terms of the nuclear deal, but Tehran has said its commitment will gradually decrease until Britain, France, and Germany can ensure that it benefits financially from the accord – Iran's main incentive for signing it.
Since May, Washington has ordered all countries to stop purchasing Iranian oil or be banished from the global financial system. It has also dispatched extra troops to the region to counter Iranian threats.
