rferl.org – Shipping and other international authorities continue to monitor an Iranian supertanker cleared for release after a month in custody in Gibraltar over possible breaching of EU sanctions, but the reportedly renamed vessel might be sailing into a showdown as U.S. authorities are still seeking its seizure.
Officials in Gibraltar on August 18 rejected a renewed U.S. request
that they not release the tanker, saying in a statement: “The EU
sanctions regime against Iran — which is applicable in Gibraltar — is
much narrower than that applicable in the U.S.”
“The Gibraltar Central Authority is unable to seek an Order of the
Supreme Court of Gibraltar to provide the restraining assistance
required by the United States of America,” it added.
The Panamanian-flagged Grace 1 was said by Iranian officials to have
been reflagged as Iranian, renamed the Adrian Darya-1, and was
reportedly preparing to depart Gibraltar at any time.
It was not clear how international authorities would respond to the U.S.
warrant for the vessel’s seizure over alleged ties to an arm of the
Iranian military.
This and other shipping disputes have come amid rising tensions between
Iran and the West over U.S. sanctions and mounting military and
commercial incidents in and around the Persian Gulf, which sees around
one-fifth of international oil shipments.
“The vessel is expected to leave tonight,” Iran’s ambassador to Britain, Hamid Baeidinejad, tweeted on August 18, adding that two engineering teams had been flown to Gibraltar.
Iranian Navy commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi was quoted by
Mehr news agency as saying that he was prepared to send ships to escort
the Adrian Darya-1 on its journey.
“The era of hit and run is over,” he reportedly said. “If top
authorities ask the navy, we are ready to escort out tanker Adrian.”
Video and photos on August 18 showed the vessel at anchor, flying the Iranian flag and displaying its new name on the hull.
The Grace 1 was seized by U.K. Royal Marines forces as it entered the
Mediterranean Sea on July 4. It was reportedly carrying over 2 million
barrels of Iranian oil that some feared was bound for Syria in violation
of EU sanctions.
And while Gibraltar withdrew its five-week-old detention order against
the Grace 1 on August 15, the U.S. Justice Department issued a warrant
over its alleged connections to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
(IRGC), an arm of the Iranian military that was recently designated as a
foreign terrorist organization by U.S. authorities.
The U.S. warrant said the Grace 1, all of the oil aboard, and $995,000
are subject to forfeiture, citing what it called violations of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and bank fraud,
money-laundering, and terrorism statutes.
A representative for the Grace 1’s shipping agent, Astralship, on August
17 said a new crew of Indian and Ukrainian nationals would be taking
command of the Iranian tanker at port in Gibraltar and that it would be
ready to depart the British territory within “24 to 48 hours.” The
company had not been told of its next destination, he added.
Iranian officials, who have insisted the shipment is not bound for
Syria, said on August 16 that the vessel would be setting sail under the
Iranian flag and renamed the Adrian Darya.
Baeidinejad tweeted
on August 17 that the renaming of the vessel “has created a false
impression for some that it is intended to circumvent sanctions.”
Instead, he said, the move was a result of Panamanian officials’
response to the seizure and related matters.
Shipping tensions increased with Iran’s seizure of a U.K.-flagged
tanker, the Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz later in July in
what they suggested was a tit-for-tat move.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for an international effort to
escort vessels to defend commercial shipping interests in the Persian
Gulf against harassment and illegal interference, meeting with support
from the U.K. and from some other Western and Gulf state officials.
But Iranian officials, who have routinely said the Strait of Hormuz is
under their close watch, said recently that “outside presences” in the
region can destabilize things.
Then on August 18, Reuters quoted the IRGC’s naval chief warning that
the presence of the United States and Britain in the region “means
insecurity” and seemingly suggesting its own regional coalition to
provide security in the Gulf.
“The presence of America and England in this region means insecurity,”
Iran’s ILNA news agency quoted IRGC naval commander Alireza Tangsiri as
saying.
The U.S. Justice Department accused the Grace 1 of scheming to
“unlawfully access the U.S. financial system to support illicit
shipments to Syria from Iran by the [IRGC].”
Statements from Washington and Tehran have become increasingly harsh
since Trump withdrew the United States last year from a deal with other
world powers and Iran to exchange sanctions relief for curbs on Iran’s
disputed nuclear program.