Released Iranian oil tanker pursued by US ‘goes dark’ near Syria
AN oil tanker at the centre of a diplomatic row between Iran and Britain has turned off its tracking beacon, leading to renewed speculation it will deliver its controversial cargo to Syria.
The Adrian Darya 1 – formerly named Grace 1 – was impounded by Gibraltar in July but released two weeks ago after Tehran gave assurances the vessel would not violate EU and US sanctions by discharging its 2.1million barrels of oil in the war-torn country.
Iran claimed to have sold the shipment of oil to another buyer and since then the vessel has been sailing around the Mediterranean with its load, continually changing its destination port.
The vessel sent its last signal at 5.53pm local time on Monday as it headed north towards Syria, according to Tankertrackers.com, which records shipping movements.
Richard Meade, managing editor of Lloyd’s List Intelligence said: “The fact that Adrian Darya 1 is currently skirting the Syrian coast with its Automatic Identification System offline, awaiting what US intelligence services expect to be an imminent ship-to-ship transfer, which will ultimately see its cargo end up in Syria, is politically embarrassing for almost everyone except Iran.”
The US, which has sought to seize the tanker, claims the ship is owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard which it has recently labelled a terrorist organisation. The vessel was believed to have been en route to a Syrian refinery when it was seized by British Marines on July 4. Two weeks later, Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz and has yet to release it.
An oil delivery to Syria could ramp up tensions between Washington and Tehran, sparked by President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president yesterday ruled out holding any bilateral talks with the US and threatened to further cut his commitments to a nuclear deal within days.
France is believed to have offered Iran a $15 billion (£12 billion) credit line if Tehran complies with the 2015 nuclear deal, a move that hinges on Washington agreeing to it.