TEHRAN, Aug 16 — A tanker carrying Iranian oil, released by Gibraltar authorities after being held since July 4, is preparing to set sail into the Mediterranean, a senior Iranian shipping official said today.

The ship’s seizure, with the help of British Royal Marines, had triggered a sharp deterioration in relations between Tehran and London and the tit-for-tat detention by Iran of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero.

The Grace 1 will be renamed and switch to the Iranian flag for its onward journey, the deputy head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organisation, Jalil Eslami, told state television.

“At the owner’s request, the Grace 1 will depart for the Mediterranean after being reflagged under the Islamic Republic of Iran’s flag and renamed as Adrian Darya for the voyage,” Eslami said.

Advertisement

“The ship was of Russian origin and Panama-flagged and is carrying two million barrels of Iranian oil,” he added.

Gibraltar’s Supreme Court ordered the tanker released yesterday after the British overseas territory received written assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not head to any country subject to European Union sanctions.

The ship had been detained on suspicion that its cargo was destined for the Banias oil refinery in Syria in breach of an EU embargo.

Advertisement

Hours before the court’s ruling, the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has waged a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran, launched a last-minute legal move demanding that the Gibraltar authorities extend the vessel’s detention.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US attempt at “piracy” had failed, saying it showed the Trump administration’s “contempt for the law”.

Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran last year and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.

Following the Grace 1’s release, Britain renewed its demand that Iran release the British-flagged tanker it seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19.

Tehran charged that Stena Impero was in violation of “international maritime rules” but the move was widely seen as retaliation for the detention of the Grace 1. — AFP