Gibraltar rejected a US request for the detention of the Iranian tanker Grace 1. Earlier, the Gibraltar authorities detained the ship on suspicion of violating EU sanctions, but the ship was later released.

In Gibraltar, they explained their decision by the difference in the sanctions regimes adopted against Iran by the EU and US authorities.

“The Gibraltar Department of Justice cannot request the required warrant due to current European Union law and differences in sanctions applicable to Iran in the EU and the US,” the statement said on the Gibraltar government website.

It is noted that the anti-Iranian sanctions of the EU are much more restrictive measures in relation to Tehran from the United States.

The explanation for the published document also states that on August 15, the Gibraltar authorities received a request from the United States, which ordered the detention of the Grace 1 tanker as a preliminary measure to initiate the confiscation of the vessel by the American side.

On the same day, the Gibraltar side informed the United States that they could not delay the tanker on the basis of the information they had. The additional data that Washington sent did not correct the situation.

In the list of this information, in particular, it was said that the ship and its cargo “control the Corps of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC)”. This organization in the United States is considered terrorist.

Recall that in early July, Gibraltar, with the support of the British military, detained the Grace 1 supertanker, which was flying the flag of Panama. The ship was suspected of transporting 2 million barrels of crude oil from Iran to Syria, bypassing the sanctions against Damascus. The tanker crew was later released, but the arrest of the ship itself was extended.

The United States intended to confiscate the tanker, along with all the oil on board and a cash amount of $ 995 thousand. Washington explained the legitimacy of these actions by the American Law on International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEPA).

Note that in a number of media reports appeared earlier that the Grace 1 tanker was allegedly released after the Iranian side promised not to use this vessel to deliver oil to Syria. Later, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the Islamic Republic did not give such guarantees.

In addition, Iran’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hamid Baidinejad, said that Grace 1 would leave Gibraltar on Sunday.

“The ship is expected to go to sea tonight,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter.

Shortly before this, the head of the Organization of Ports and Shipping of Iran, Jalil Eslami, reported that the tanker would change its name to Adrian Darya and go to the Mediterranean Sea.

“They will put pressure on their allies”

The events surrounding the tanker Grace 1 became part of a large-scale aggravation of relations between Iran and the United States with its allies in the person of Great Britain. Following Gibraltar’s actions against an Iranian tanker, Tehran detained British oil tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for violating international maritime law.

Iran stated that a British tanker collided with a fishing vessel and ignored the distress signal that followed. Tehran said that the crew will remain on board until the end of the investigation.

As Director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development Dmitry Solonnikov noted, the United States considers the decisions of its courts to be extraterritorial and binding on other states.

“They also perceive their sanctions. They introduce restrictions and new sanctions against countries that do not support them. Since most US allies are very dependent on them, such pressure acts, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

As Solonnikov explained, Gibraltar, as the territory of Great Britain, is actually involved in political processes on the side of the United States. He noted that London does not see its closest ally as the EU, but Washington.

According to him, in Washington they hoped that Gibraltar would follow American instructions. He admitted that in this situation, an exchange is meant, in which Gibraltar releases the Iranian tanker, and Tehran ceases to hold the British ship.

“For Britain now it is more important than an alliance with the United States. But the States will continue to insist on their position, and negotiations will continue, ”the expert believes.

However, Solonnikov believes that the US sanctions policy will continue, but in Europe there is an opinion on this.

“Great Britain, too, first followed the path of the United States, but was forced to adjust its position. I think that the USA will continue to exert pressure on its allies in Europe, ”the expert concluded.