Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Wednesday that Tehran would give a tough response if the Israeli Navy tried to block its oil trade
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2019) Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Wednesday that Tehran would give a tough response if the Israeli Navy tried to block its oil trade.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran had been trying to bypass US sanctions by smuggling oil by sea and called on the international community to stop the country from shipping oil abroad. He said that naval forces would play an important role in countering Iranian smuggling but did not specify which navy would do this.
"Of course, if they [Israel] have such an intention, it will be regarded as a violation of international security and piracy. Iran has power to deal with this issue, and, if necessary, we will answer harshly," Hatami told the IRNA news agency in an interview.
The United States brought back sanctions on Iran last year after President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the 2015 nuclear deal that his predecessor co-signed with Russia, China, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Iran.
The remaining signatories have stood by their commitments and have worked out a mechanism that will allow non-dollar transactions with Iran, bypassing US financial sanctions, to keep the nuclear deal alive.
