Tehran (AFP)
Iran said Monday it warned Washington against seizure of its oil tanker, which left the waters of the British territory of Gibraltar the previous day where it was held for weeks and whose final destination remains unclear.
According to the Marine Traffic monitoring site, the Iranian oil tanker, which had been immobilized since 4 July off the coast of Gibraltar, weighed anchor on Sunday evening and was sailing south and east. The Gibraltar authorities have not confirmed his departure.
According to the same site, the vessel is scheduled to reach the Greek port of Kalamata in southern Peloponnese, but no official confirmation has been obtained. And there is a total blur on its final destination, as well as on the fate of its cargo.
Gibraltar had boarded the tanker, suspected of carrying oil to Syria, in application of the European sanctions against that country. He was cleared Thursday to leave when Tehran assured that the cargo of 2.1 million barrels would not be delivered to Syria.
Renamed Adrian Darya, the tanker went under the flag of Iran, and the flag of the country floated on Sunday at its stern. He was previously sailing under the Panamanian flag and was named Grace 1.
- "No legal basis" -
According to a statement released on Sunday, the Gibraltar authorities denied the seizure sought by Washington under US law sanctions.
"Under European law, Gibraltar is unable to lend the assistance requested by the United States," they said.
And, on Monday, as Adrian Darya resumed sea action, Iran reported sending a warning to the United States through the Swiss embassy in Tehran - which represents American interests. - in case of new seizure of the ship.
"Iran has sent the necessary warnings to US officials through official channels (...) not to make such an error because it would have serious consequences," Abbas Moussavi, a spokesman for the press, told reporters. Iranian Foreign Affairs.
The decision of the Gibraltar authorities to release the tanker is a "blow to the unilateralism of the United States," was also pleased Mr. Moussavi.
"The Americans have not been very successful with their unilateral sanctions that have no legal basis, they should understand that intimidation and unilateralism can not go anywhere in the world today," he said. -he adds.
The boarding of Grace 1 caused a serious diplomatic crisis between London and Tehran, which denied that the ship was heading for Syria. Iran seized a British tanker, the Stena Impero, in the Strait of Hormuz 15 days later.
It remains in the hands of the Iranian authorities, who have subsequently seized two other tankers, exacerbating the tension in a region where several ships have been attacked or damaged by mines and where an American drone has been shot down by Iran. as the United States tighten the grip of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
- "No link" -
US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from an international agreement to frame the Iranian nuclear industry, negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama with Iran, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany, and reinstated draconian sanctions against Tehran.
The Europeans, for their part, have tried to persuade Iran to continue to respect the agreement, and tried to limit the impact of US sanctions that Washington wants to apply to all companies trading with Iran regardless of their nationality.
The Islamic Republic has judged these efforts insufficient, and started in recent weeks to free itself from certain terms of the 2015 agreement on its nuclear program.
In his press conference on Monday, the Iranian spokesman rejected any link between the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar and that of the British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf.
"There is no connection between these two ships," Mousavi said. "There have been two or three maritime violations committed by this ship," he said in reference to Stena Impero flying the British flag.
About this ship, "the court looks into this case". "We hope that the investigation will be completed as soon as possible and that the verdict will be made" soon, added the spokesman.
The impero Stena was taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for "non-compliance with the international maritime code" according to Tehran. He is accused of ignoring distress calls and turning off his transponder after colliding with a fishing boat.
The British-flagged tanker, owned by a Swedish shipowner, has a crew of 23, including 18 Indians. The rest comes from the Philippines, Latvia and Russia.
© 2019 AFP