Sputnik: How significant is this and what effect will this meeting have on the ongoing escalations in the region?
Hamidreza Gholamzadeh: What you're seeing actually from Britain is almost the same story and scenario we had in 2003 regarding, where the British government siding with the United States, taking the same measures and using false flag and fake news and such things to justify an escalation of tension - same Iran in this case. The difference is that Iran is not Iraq and the situation is totally different. The British government needs to know that it is not going to be able to do the same thing that it did in Iraq [with Iran] - that's not going to be done by force. We are living in a modern civilized world and they need to actually behave in the same manner. They should obey international laws and there no grounds for them to actually take any measures, which is breaking the international laws. Yes, they are accusing Iran of sending oil to Syria, when on the documents and international documents it's showing that the Iranian tanker was not heading to Syria. It is London who needs to prove the claim.
Sputnik: After German and French Foreign ministries issued support for Britain this weekend; what options does the UK have on the table going forward?
Hamidreza Gholamzadeh: Europe is actually trying both sides. They're hopeful that putting pressure on one hand; on the other hand, they're trying to make alliance with other European countries against Iran. They're hopeful that this pressure can lead to that coalition, that alliance, against Iran and if not, they will actually have the try to abide by the rules. They are trying to use both sides but it seems that the preference is to put pressure on Iran and actually making that work moving to the coalition against Iran. We have support from China, and many other countries that are looking at the documents and the truth and the realities on the ground. So as I said, if the old scenario is not what exchange should be a scenario in London and the United States, and people like Mr Bolton to add to the pressure then they will be the real measure and they rational expected measure that we can take is to negotiate any debt relief that both bankers and the uranium and the British one.
Sputnik: Following today’s developments how will Iran respond?
Hamidreza Gholamzadeh: If they want to resolve the situation they need to release the vessel. It has also been said that there are possibilities in reducing tensions with Iran. Instead of demanding they need to work more collaboratively and responsibly. They need to actually work diplomatically with the Iranian side and that would be easy to resolve.