Iranian cleric Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri warned Britain on Saturday about Tehran’s retaliation for the capture of an Iranian supertanker by Royal Marines in Gibraltar. “I am openly saying that Britain should be scared of Iran’s retaliatory measures over the illegal seizure of the Iranian oil tanker,” said the cleric, who is a member of the powerful clerical body, the Assembly of Experts. 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. It comes as British flagged supertanker Pacfic Voyager is passing through the Persian Gulf this weekend. Tehran yesterday threatened to seize British shipping in the Gulf in a direct response to the dramatic swoop by the marines with helicopters and fast boats in the early hours of Thursday. Yesterday, Moshem Rezaei said Tehran had a “duty” to respond to the seizure of the Grace 1 over suspicions it was carrying oil to Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime in breach of EU sanctions. A detachment of Royal Marines from 42 Commando boarded the vessel on Thursday in a joint operation with the Royal Gibraltar Police. Writing on Twitter, Mr Rezaei, who led the Guard during the 1980s “tanker war” in the Gulf, said: “If England does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the duty… (of Iran) is to respond and seize one English oil tanker.” The warning came after Britain’s ambassador in Tehran, Rob Macaire, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry
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