Gibraltar releases Iran supertanker that U.S. sought to seize
MADRID — The British overseas territory of Gibraltar released a seized Iranian supertanker Thursday over last-minute objections from the U.S., potentially easing tensions between London and Tehran, which still holds a British-flagged vessel.
The release of the Grace 1 comes amid a growing confrontation between Iran and the West after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago.
In past weeks, the Persian Gulf region has seen six attacks on oil tankers that the U.S. has blamed on Iran and the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone by Iranian forces. Iran denied it was behind the tanker attacks, although it has seized other tankers.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the U.S. could still begin a new legal procedure for seizing the Grace 1, but that provisions under the European Union’s sanctions regulations were ending Thursday after the Iranian government assured him in writing that the ship will not send its 2.1 million barrels of crude to a sanctioned entity in Syria.
Reacting to the developments, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the U.S. of trying to “steal our property on the high seas.”
Gibraltar said it had “solid documentary evidence” that the vessel was bound for Syria when it was detained on July 4, but that the political fallout had prompted talks with Iranian officials in London.
As proof of those negotiations, Picardo’s office released copies of communications with the Iranian Embassy in the U.K. shortly after the British overseas territory’s Supreme Court decision to release the tanker.
“It’s there for the whole world to see,” Picardo said, hours after the hearing. “Once a state says something in writing on its own letterhead, one is entitled to believe that they will comply with those obligations.”
The EU has endorsed UN sanctions against Syria and has imposed a broad range of its own restrictions against Assad’s government and its supporters. The restrictions include an oil embargo, limits on certain type of investments and a freeze of Syria’s central bank’s assets in the EU, among others.
In May, it extended until mid-2020 travel bans and the freezing of assets of 269 individuals and 69 entities. Among them is listed the Banyas refinery where the Grace 1’s cargo was allegedly headed on July 4 when it was seized in a British Royal Navy operation in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Shortly after that, Iran seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which remains held by the Islamic Republic. Analysts had said the release of the Grace 1 by Gibraltar could see the Stena Impero go free.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street office said Iran was discussed during his meeting with Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton earlier in the week, though no details were released.
Resolving the tanker dispute would help Britain’s Johnson focus on domestic issues as he works to complete Britain’s exit from the EU and prepare for anticipated national elections in the next few months.
The U.S. has been asking its allies to take part in a naval mission to protect shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, although European nations have been reluctant.