Iranian
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser for international affairs
says the detention of a British-flagged oil tanker and downing of a US drone
are "turning points in the history of militant Islam."
Ali
Akbar Velayati made the statement July 23 during a meeting with Salih
al-Arouri, the deputy chairman of the political office of Palestinian group
Hamas.
He
said these actions have "revived Islamic values," adding that recent
developments in the region are "symbols of Iranians and resistance
movement's struggle against the arrogance of Zionism and the United
States."
The
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) detained a British oil tanker in the
Arabian Gulf after forcing it to leave Oman's waters and sail toward Iran.
The
detention of the British-flagged ship took place within hours after a court in
Gibraltar said an Iranian oil tanker detained in early July should remain in
Gibraltar for another 30 days. The ship, Grace 1, was carrying two million
barrels of Iranian oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
Grace
1 was detained on July 4 with the help of British Royal Marines.
In
another development, Iran's Civil Defense Chief Gholamreza Jalali characterized
the detention of the UK-operated oil tanker in Iran as "an end to the rule
of British empire on the seas," while also calling the act Iran's
retaliation for the detention of its tanker in Gibraltar.