The oil of discord. The United States on Thursday (September 12th) accused Iran of "lying" to Europeans and the international community by delivering oil to Syria after pledging not to do so, which Teheran denies.

This accusation originated off Gibraltar when, in July, the ship Grace 1 - since renamed Adrian Darya 1 - was boarded by British forces, suspected of carrying oil to Syria on board.

The ship, first under the Panamanian and then Iranian flag, was allowed to leave in mid-August, after Gibraltar's head of government, Fabian Picardo, assured that he had received Iran's written promise not to send in Syria the 2.1 million barrels of Iranian oil that it carried. Tehran denied having made such a commitment.

The tanker was later reported in the Syrian port of Tartous.

"The fabric of lies of the Iranian regime"

"We have just seen live how the Iranian regime has broken its word given to the European Union that the ship would not deliver its oil to the murderous regime of al-Assad," said Thursday the spokesman of American diplomacy, Morgan Ortagus.

"The Iranian regime has delivered the oil to Syria, and this fuel is going directly into the tanks of soldiers who are killing innocent Syrians," she added, saying that Iran "lied about it in this regard. EU and lied about it to the international community ".

Asked if the United States had evidence to support this charge, she replied, "I will not say it in front of the cameras if it were not." "This is part of the fabric of lies of the Iranian regime for 40 years," she said.

The United Kingdom also accuses Tehran

Earlier in the week, Tuesday, the British Foreign Ministry had already accused Iran of breaking its word by delivering oil to Syria and summoned the Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom to "condemn actions" from Tehran.

"Iran has repeatedly given assurances (...) that its tanker Adrian Darya 1 would not deliver oil to entities that are subject to sanctions in Syria," the ministry said in a statement. "But it is now clear that Iran has broken these assurances and that oil has been delivered to Syria and the murderous regime of Assad."

London intends to address this "unacceptable violation of international standards" at the United Nations "later in the month". For Dominic Raab, the head of the British diplomacy quoted in the statement, the "behavior" of Iran "aims to disrupt regional security."

"We are now waiting for details on the final destination of the oil before making further comments," Tuesday responded the head of the government of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo. But "if Iran has not honored its written commitment" and has thus made a "massive flip-flop", this country "will appear really as devious and unreliable" on the international scene, he warned.

The Iranian ambassador to the UK said on Wednesday that the Adrian Darya 1 had been sold in international waters to a private company, denying that Tehran had failed to provide guarantees to the Gibraltar authorities. He also said that it is the private purchaser of oil who "decides the destination".

With AFP and Reuters