Era of Hit and Run Over, Iran Says after Report of Tanker Being Offloaded in Texas
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry declined to confirm a report that a tanker purportedly carrying sanctioned Iranian oil has offloaded its cargo near Texas, but warned the US that Iran won’t remain silent on the violation of its rights.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Monday, Nasser Kanaani said he has no verified information about a story that an oil tanker suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil offloaded its cargo near Texas.
The AP has cited ship-tracking data, claiming that the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan began an hours-long ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, near Galveston, some 70 kilometers southeast of Houston on Sunday.
In response, Kanaani said the general principle is that “the era of hit and run has been over”.
The spokesman emphasized that the Islamic Republic won’t remain silent on any violation of the Iranian nation’s rights, will show an appropriate reaction and “cut off the hands of violators”.
He reminded the parties that have plans to confiscate Iran’s oil to review the history of Iran’s actions in similar cases.
“Measures that involve attacking oil tankers carrying Iranian oil are a brazen example of piracy,” Kanaani stated.