![Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech as he gathers with medical teachers and doctors in Tehran, Iran on 2 June 2019. [Presidency of Iran - Handout - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20190602_2_36736724_45019379.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iran’s Strait of Hormuz is not a place for “mischief or manipulation of international maritime laws,” the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, warned yesterday.
Speaking at a government meeting at the Iranian capital city of Tehran, Rouhani described the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s recent capture of the British-flagged tank as “a very precise, professional and correct step.”
Iran: US bases to be targeted in war with Tehran
Referring to the British naval forces’ recent seizure of an Iranian tanker off the Gibraltar coast, the Iranian president pledged a “befitting response” from his country if the UK was to release the Iranian ship.
“I believe that the entire world should be grateful to the IRGC for the security in the Persian Gulf,” he continued, stressing that Tehran was not seeking “tensions with certain European countries.”
On Iran’s nuclear programme, Rouhani threatened that Tehran would take another step towards reducing its nuclear obligations if it continued to face “violations and disputes over its legal rights”.