Voice of America
19 Aug 2019, 17:35 GMT+10
GIBRALTAR - An Iranian oil tanker seized in Gibraltar for violating EU sanctions sailed from Gibraltar's waters Sunday after the British colony's Supreme Court rejected repeated U.S. requests to turn over the vessel suspected of intending to deliver crude to Syria.
Marine traffic monitoring data indicated Monday the tanker - with its named changed from Grace 1 to Adrian Darya 1 - was making its way to a port in Greece, though officials have not publicly confirmed its destination.
The Gibraltar government said it had received a "supplemental request" from the United States as late as Saturday to stop the tanker from leaving Gibraltar waters, where it had been anchored for 46 days with 2.1 million barrels of oil on board. But authorities were "unable to seek a Supreme Court Order to provide the restraining assistance requested," the statement said.
Initial U.S. requests to hold the vessel were rejected by Gibraltar's high court last Thursday. The colony's chief minister Fabian Picardo said that Iran had given assurances that the oil would not go to Syria, a destination prohibited by EU sanctions against the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Subsequent U.S. requests were based on offenses under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act linked to U.S. sanctions against Iran that do not apply in Gibraltar, Britain or the rest of the European Union, according to the Gibraltar Justice Ministry.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told reporters Monday that Iran had warned the United States through official channels against making any new attempt to seize the tanker.
U.S. pressures were also exerted directly on the British government by top Trump administration officials including National Security Adviser John Bolton who flew to London last week.
"There is no embargo policy against Iran in EU countries," said Gibraltar attorney Joseph Triay. He said that the ship should have been allowed to sail last week.
Sources close to the Gibraltar attorney general's office say that the United States alleged that proceeds from the tanker's oil deliveries were going to companies associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which the U.S. State Department recently designated as a terrorist organization.
Some analysts say the tanker's release could also be the start of an exchange with the Iranian government, which seized British-flagged tanker Stena Impero as it entered the Persian Gulf last month. Iran's Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei has called the ship's boarding by the Revolutionary Guard a "reciprocal move."
"There is much speculation that the release of Grace 1 is a pre-condition for the Iranian regime to release the British ship Stena Impero," said Benjamin Weinthal of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
'Escalation of tensions'
The seizure of yet another British tanker was narrowly averted by a Royal Navy frigate that blocked three Iranian patrol boats approaching the vessel. Britain's Foreign Office called the incident an "escalation of tensions."
The Royal Navy announced that it was reinforcing its presence in the Persian Gulf with a destroyer diverted from NATO duties in the Black Sea, which would raise its total number of warships in the Gulf area to two.
American defense journalist David Axe says the Royal Navy is too "overstretched" to effectively protect the volume of British tanker traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States has an aircraft carrier task force deployed in the Gulf to protect its shipping interests.
The British Foreign Office refuses to link the seizing of the Stena Impero with that of the Adrian Darya 1 and denies that any negotiations are underway with Tehran.
But last week, an Iranian port official said that documents were being exchanged between London and Tehran which indicated that the "problem would be resolved in the near future."
Get a daily dose of Calgary Monitor news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Calgary Monitor.
More InformationWith trade routes and regional influence on the line, Beijing walks a diplomatic tightrope between Tehran and Tel Aviv Israel is...
New Delhi [India], June 21 (ANI): A special flight from Iran carrying 290 Indians, including students and religious pilgrims, landed...
New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Two flights are scheduled to arrive in Delhi tonight as part of Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian...
Dhaka [Bangladesh], June 20 (ANI): Various Islamic groups in Bangladesh on Friday protested against Israeli attacks on Iran. They...
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], June 20 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah provided an update on the evacuation...
XI'AN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- When Sahedov Begench, a young entrepreneur from Turkmenistan based in the ancient Chinese city of Xi'an,...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A quiet shift inside the Trump administration has stalled a key diplomatic initiative aimed at pushing Russia toward...
KANANASKIS, Alberta: With key tariff deadlines approaching, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this week that finalizing the...
BANFF, Alberta: The recent G7 summit has convened for the second and final day in the picturesque Canadian Rockies amidst escalating...
CALGARY, Alberta, Canada - U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he is leaving the G7 summit after just one day, and after refusing...
Moscow has no interest in the format as the members no longer represent the global majority, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said ...
New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday took a sharp dig at the Congress party and...