Iranian President Issues Threat to US Over Oil to Venezuela

As five Iranian tankers laden with oil bound for Venezuela near their scheduled arrival into the Caribbean on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used a telephone conversation with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to issue a threat against America if the US acts against those vessels in any manner. Expecting a possible interdiction of the shipment which violates US sanctions, Rouhani’s comments apparently serve as a peremptory warning. According to the state-run MEHR news agency, “If our tankers in the Caribbean or anywhere in the world face trouble caused by the Americans, they will also be in trouble.”  The incident is the latest in the ongoing tit-for-tat between Washington and Tehran, a situation that experts see as escalating dangerously. Recently, Iranian forces have been provoking American forces on the regional waterways. One day earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told celebrants of “Jerusalem Day” – a day expressing support for the Palestinians – that Israel is a “cancerous tumor” that will be “uprooted and destroyed.”