US has Iranian oil tanker intercepted

MADRID — Authorities in Gibraltar say they intercepted an Iranian supertanker Thursday that was believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Tehran’s crude oil to warravaged Syria.

A senior Spanish official said the action was requested by the United States. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called the incident “an illegal seizure of an Iranian oil tanker.”

Gibraltar port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by Britain’s Royal Marines, boarded the Grace 1 early Thursday. That was according to authorities on the British overseas territory at the tip of Spain.

It added that the vessel was believed to be headed to the Baniyas Refinery in Syria, a government-owned facility under the control of Syrian President Bashar Assad and subject to the EU’S Syrian Sanctions Regime.

The EU and others have imposed sanctions on Assad’s government over its continued crackdown against civilians. The sanctions currently target 270 people and 70 entities.

Spain’s caretaker foreign minister, Josep Borrell, said the tanker was stopped by British authorities after a request from the United States.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a tweet that British Ambassador Rob Macaire was summoned over the “illegal interception” of the ship. Mousavi later called the ship’s seizure “odd and destructive.”

“It can cause an increase in tensions in the region,” he said on state television Thursday night.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton tweeted that the ship’s seizure was “excellent news.”

“America & our allies will continue to prevent regimes in Tehran & Damascus from profiting off this illicit trade,” Bolton added.

In Madrid, Borrell said Spain was assessing the implications of the operation because the detention took place in waters it considers its own.

Britain insists Gibraltar is part of the United Kingdom, but Spain argues it is not.