Iranian officials warned against the US moving to stop five Iran-sent oil tankers to Venezuela, in defiance of US sanctions imposed on both countries. Anticipation prevails over the possible US response after it mobilized a naval unit towards the Caribbean.
According to Iranian news agencies, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asserted that the US does not have the right to disrupt “legal” trade between international countries, and noted that the threat to Iranian oil tankers is a threat to the whole world and isn’t just a matter that concerns Iran and Venezuela.
“Legal trade continues in the world, and the US is not allowed to disrupt it. This policy of the US government is not just a threat to one or two special countries; rather, it poses a threat to the whole world,” underlined Zarif.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of a funeral ceremony held for Iran’s former envoy to the OPEC who died a couple of days ago.
“If a country wants to make a decision based on its own wrong policies and take action to disrupt legal trade, it will certainly face an international backlash,” said Zarif.
The minister wrote to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday, warning against "America's movements in deploying its navy to the Caribbean.”
He complained that the US intention was to "intervene and create disruption in the transfer of Iran's fuel to Venezuela."
Iran “reserves its right to take all appropriate and necessary measures and decisive action ... to secure its legitimate rights and interests against such bullying policies and unlawful practices,” Zarif wrote to Guterres.
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