Iran will retaliate if US takes hijacked Iranian oil: IRGC commander

The deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Cords (IRGC) says the country will act in kind if the United States empties the cargo of an Iranian tanker that it has illegally seized to use or sell.

“If the enemies commit a folly and empty the Iranian tanker, we will act in kind. One of the country’s policies since the imposed [Iraqi] war has been acting in kind,” Deputy IRGC Commander Ali Fadavi said on Monday.

He said Iran’s enemies weren’t engaging in military warfare against Iran today and were instead waging economic war on the country.

“The US secretary of the treasury is responsible for war on Iran, and 50 days ago, she confessed on live television that for the past 44 years, whatever measure they have taken against Iran has failed,” the Iranian military commander said.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers in a hearing in March that the US sanctions on Iran had not brought about Washington’s desired outcome. Fadavi said any country that allied with the US would similarly be defeated.

“America has made a mistake in its calculations many times and it has realized that it has many times, too,” Fadavi said.

US prosecutors are reportedly struggling to auction the seized Iranian oil near Texas, boarded on an oil tanker called Suez Rajan. The cargo was confiscated by the U.S. in April.

The Wall Street Journal has recently said the auctioning of 800,000 barrels of seized Iranian oil has been met with reluctance from US companies as they fear retaliation by Iran.

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