A warning to the United States of not trying to seize its oil tanker in the mid seas after being released from Gibraltar was given by Iran.

According to shipping data, the oil tanker in question was moving towards Greece and it was seized as a consequence of the current tensions between Iraq and the US. According to reports, a request earlier by the US to detain the tanker further was rejected by the British territory of Gibraltar. According to data from MarineTraffic, the tanker was destined for the Peloponnesian city of Kalamata.

A foreign ministry official of Iran said: “Such an action … would endanger shipping safety in open seas. We have issued a warning through official channels, especially the Swiss embassy” when asked about the possibility of the US renewing its earlier seizure request for the tanker after the tanker sailed from Gibraltar.

There are no official diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington and US interests in Iran are represented by Switzerland.

2.1m barrels of oil which is estimated to be worth £115m is being carried by the tanker that was earlier known as the Grace 1 but had been renamed as the Adrian Darya 1 by Iran.

The ship was seized off Gibraltar on 4 July by Royal Marines over allegations that the oil that it was carrying was meant for Syria which would have been a violation of the sanctions by the European Union.

A fortnight after the seizure of the Iranian ship, a British-flagged tanker Stena Impero was seized by Iranian forces in the Gulf as a retaliatory measure. This caused tensions between the two countries. In response, a second warship to the Gulf was sent by the British government for offering greater protection for merchant shippers.

Allegations that its tanker was headed for Syria have been denied by Iran. Last week, Iran gave a written undertaking to Gibraltar that the seized tanker would not sail towards Syria or any other place that come under the EU sanctions which paved the way for the release of the tanker.

However on Friday, following the issuance of warrant for the seizure of the supertanker by a federal court in Washington further complicated legal matters of the tussle as the court alleged that the tanker had violated US sanctions against Iran.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard controls the tanker through a series of front companies, alleged the US and Washington has designated the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization and it is among the targets for the sanctions.

Its binding by the EU laws prevented it from accepting the US request, Gibraltar said on Sunday about the tanker’s further seizure. “The EU sanctions regime on Iran is fundamentally different to that the US,” Gibraltar said. Further, EU, UK or Gibraltar law does not identify the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, the authorities also said.

That meant that there were no further legal hurdles for freeing the supertanker after Gibraltar refused to agree to the US request.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)

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