A former leader of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard has said the Islamic Republic should consider seizing a British oil tanker in response to authorities detaining an Iranian oil tanker off the coast Gibraltar.

Mohsen Rezaei, who led the Guard during the 1980s Tanker War in the Persian Gulf, wrote on Twitter: “If England does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the duty … (of Iran) is to respond and seize one English oil tanker.”

Authorities in Gibraltar intercepted a super tanker believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to Syria.

Spanish authorities say the seizure came at the request of the US.

The seizure comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US over Tehran’s unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.