(Bloomberg) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.K.'s seizure of an Iranian oil tanker this month was an act of piracy, warning that it won't be left unanswered by the Islamic Republic.
In his first comments on the U.K.'s actions in the Strait of Gibraltar, Khamenei said “the evil British” attempted to cover up their “crime” of stealing an Iranian vessel, according to comments shown Tuesday on state television.
Seized Gibraltar Tanker Starts What May Be Lengthy Legal Process
Khamenei also admonished European countries that are signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal for criticizing Iran's decision to scale back its compliance under the accord.
“We have just started to reduce our commitments,” Khamenei said. “This process will certainly continue.”
--With assistance from Ladane Nasseri.
To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Tehran at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky, Tony Halpin
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