Mr Dalli confirmed his intention to The Malta Independent last night after Dr Sant levelled accusations during a press conference yesterday morning.
Mr Dalli, in an earlier statement signed by his assistant private secretary, said that he was not present for any meal with the Iranian delegation, as alleged by Dr Sant. (See story above)
Iranian shipping company IRISL have, in the meantime, sent a strongly-worded letter to SMS to protest “against your very aggressive and unjust attitude by spreading misleading information” as to how IRISL came to be represented in Malta.
IRISL has been involved in a war of words between Dr Sant and Mr Dalli. Dr Sant has accused the minister that he used his position as minister to divert work from the Iranian shipping company to another with which Mr Dalli has family ties. Mr Dalli replied that the accusations were unfounded and that he was only doing his job as the then Finance and Commerce Minister when he met an Iranian delegation at the airport.
In their letter, a copy of which was sent to The Malta Independent via Gauci Borda Shipping Ltd, IRISL said that SMS were never their local agents and that their activities were never terminated for non-commercial reasons.
IRISL said that SMS were not their container agents at all, but were given some ad hoc business on some occasions.
They added that SMS is “representing (itself) as a company with which we had some type of general agreement. You know that the facts are completely different and that, although we used your services on an ad hoc basis in the past... we had no commitment towards each other.”
When it decided to come to Malta, IRISL said it had made contacts with various agents based on commercial criteria it set for itself. “These are internal affairs and not related to third parties,” IRISL said, adding that its choice fell on another agency “which gave (us) more competitive rates.”
The letter, signed by commercial director M. Shamszadeh, goes on to state that such a campaign was causing commercial damage to IRISL. It urges SMS to cease or “otherwise we would have to seek appropriate redress.” IRISL also reserved the right to take the matter to court.
In another twist to the tale, MLP international secretary Joe Mifsud said he had met the Iranian delegation that had come to Malta after a request from the Iranian embassy through the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
In reference to what Mr Dalli said in Parliament on Wednesday, the meeting, held on 5 March, discussed how relations between the two countries could improve and the possibility that Iranian ships use the Malta drydocks for repairs.
No discussion was ever made of an Iranian shipping company whose name is being associated with that of relatives to Mr Dalli. “Although my surname is Mifsud, I have no relation with the directors and shareholders of S. Mifsud and Sons Limited,” Mr Mifsud said.