British Royal Navy patrol vessel guards the oil supertanker Grace 1
British Royal Navy patrol vessel guards the oil supertanker Grace 1Reuters

Britain should be “scared” about Iran’s possible retaliation for the capture of an Iranian supertanker by Royal Marines in Gibraltar, an Iranian cleric said Saturday, according to Reuters.

“I am openly saying that Britain should be scared of Iran’s retaliatory measures over the illegal seizure of the Iranian oil tanker,” said Mohammad Ali Mousavi Jazayeri, a member of the powerful clerical body the Assembly of Experts.

“We have shown that we will never remain silent against bullying ...As we gave a staunch response to the American drone, the appropriate response to this illegal capture (of the tanker) will be given by Iran as well,” he added, according to Reuters.

The British naval force on Thursday seized an Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on suspicion that it was carrying crude oil to Syria in what may be the first such interception under EU sanctions.

The detention of the tanker angered Iran, which condemned the move as an "illegal interception" and summoned the British ambassador in protest.

Jazayeri’s comment came a day after an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander threatened to seize a British ship in retaliation for the capture of the Iranian supertanker.

The incident comes at a sensitive time in Iran-EU ties as the bloc mulls how to respond to Tehran announcing it will breach the maximum uranium enrichment level it agreed to in a 2015 nuclear deal.