Iran ready to escort seized oil tanker back home if needed
Iran’s navy is ready to send a flotilla to escort a supertanker detained for more than a month off Gibraltar back to Iran, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, citing a naval commander.
‘‘We have no intention of sending a flotilla to Gibraltar, but we are ready to do so to escort the Grace 1 back to Iran’s territorial waters,’’ the head of the army’s naval division, Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, said yesterday at a global maritime event in Tehran.
A new crew for Grace 1 was scheduled to arrive in Gibraltar yesterday, Richard de la Rosa, managing director of the vessel’s shipping agent Astralship, said by phone. Preparations are underway, he added, reiterating his company’s intention for the vessel to set sail today. Iran previously said the ship would head to a port in the Mediterranean.
The tanker bore the name Grace 1 and a Panamanian flag when it was detained on July 4. It has since been re-flagged to Iran and its name been changed to Adrian Darya 1.
The vessel is under pressure to leave Gibraltar since the US government issued a warrant for its seizure. A complaint unsealed in Washington states that ‘‘Oil Tanker Grace 1, all petroleum aboard it and US$995,000 are subject to forfeiture,’’ according to a Justice Department statement.
The statement alleges a ‘‘scheme to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments’’ of oil from Iran to Syria in violation of US sanctions, money laundering and terrorism statutes.
The vessel, which is currently anchored off the coast of Gibraltar, is at the centre of a diplomatic spat between the UK and the Trump administration. The US has threatened to impose sanctions on anyone dealing with the ship and expressed disappointment with Britain after a court in Gibraltar ruled the ship was free to sail.
Ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the ship or its crew might be subject to penalties, two US administration officials said. Iran’s foreign minister said on Twitter that the ship’s detention was unlawful.
While the cargo was originally bound for Syria, Iran has provided assurance that this is no longer the case, the Gibraltar government said in a statement.
‘‘The evidence is clear and the facts speak louder than the selfserving political statements we are hearing today,’’ according to the statement, which didn’t specify the comments it was referring to. The court’s decision on Friday to release the Grace 1 was a missed opportunity and the Trump administration hopes that the UK government and authorities in Gibraltar will reconsider, according to the US officials.