Iran’s Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangiri has sharply criticized the United States over Washington’s piracy activities stressing that Iran’s seizures of US-linked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Persian Gulf are carried out under clear domestic and international legal authority.
In a statement Jahangiri said Iranian naval forces have acted fully in accordance with domestic and international law and that the seizures are based on firm and definitive rulings issued by competent Iranian courts. He said documentation of violations by the tankers will be sent to the American side.
Jahangiri noted that US military forces particularly US Central Command constantly violate international law through piracy across the Persian Gulf. He referred to US President Donald Trump who openly confessed to acts of piracy by boasting about blockading Iranian ports and seizing Iranian vessels.
Citing the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea Jahangiri said coastal states are legally permitted to seize ships that violate regulations while the US naval blockade clearly contradicts the United Nations Charter international humanitarian law and international criminal law.
He said the Washington regime has mocked universal rights and legal norms and urged the international community to stand against US arrogant unilateralism. Jahangiri added that Iranian armed forces are confronting American forces in the Persian Gulf with power and authority despite the ongoing inhumane US naval blockade which is now in its fourth week.
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