Embarrassment to the US or another Iranian "Pike News"? The
authorities in Tehran today (Wednesday) published documentation of their successful takeover of the tanker that transported oil to the country and which the US tried to stop as part of the sanctions it imposes on the country.
The United States has denied the allegations and a U.S. source said: "Iran is trying to spin us."
The Iranian media claimed that the Islamic Republic had recently succeeded in thwarting an American attempt to boycott oil destined for the Islamic Republic in the Arabian Sea region.
According to Iranian institutional television, this is an American move designed to thwart the import of oil to Iran, which is known to be under a heavy sanctions press that actually prevents it from having legal access to the world's oil markets.
Iranian takeover of tanker in Oman Bay
According to the Mehr news agency, the tanker taken over by the Iranians eventually reached the territorial waters of Iran, despite the wrath of the Americans, who tried to block it even when it was clear that it was already on the verge of reaching the Iranian waters.
An American source who spoke to Newsweek completely denied the Iranian claim about the incident and said that "Iran is trying to spin against us, as if they prevented us from taking control of this vessel, but it is clear as day that our forces only watched from the sidelines in the incident".
He further noted that Iran had indeed taken control of some tanker, but it was apparently the Vietnamese tanker that Iran had taken over at the end of October.
"We reject the Iranian allegations that they prevented us from taking the tanker into our hands. This incident occurred last week, and our forces were just watching from the sidelines. There were ten Iranian speedboats coming at once into the tanker and there was also a helicopter. We only responded to follow the incident."
So according to the source.