Tehran (AFP)

The Swedish tanker Stena Impero, seized two months ago by Iran in the face of heightened international tension, began Friday to leave Iranian territorial waters after receiving final authorization from the Tehran authorities.

The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, had boarded the 183-meter tanker that flies the British flag on July 19, accusing it of ignoring distress calls and turning off its transponder after being turned off. collided with a fishing boat.

His arrest came after the announcement of the prolongation of the seizure of an Iranian tanker by the authorities of Gibraltar, a British territory located in the extreme south of Spain. The case caused a diplomatic crisis between London and Tehran which denied that it was a reprisal.

"The Stena Impero started to set sail around 9:00 am local time (0530 GMT) towards the international waters of the Persian Gulf," said the maritime authorities in the province of Hormozgan (southwest) on their site, saying that the departure did not mean closing the court file.

The captain of the tanker and the crew "signed a statement in which they claim to have no demand," they continued without further details.

A video broadcast on the Iranian state television website showed the oil tanker sinking with a journalist claiming he was leaving the port of Bandar Abbas (south).

"After the authorization to leave, the ship began sailing towards the United Arab Emirates," the journalist added in the video with Stena Impero in the background.

- Criminal record -

In Sweden, the Swedish company Stena Bulk, owner of the ship, had earlier stated that the ship was preparing to leave.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported that the seizure of Stena Impero had been lifted but that the judicial record "concerning certain offenses and environmental damage would remain open".

"The captain and the owner have signed a written undertaking to this effect whereby they accept (in advance) the verdict" to be pronounced at the end of the proceedings, according to the ministry.

After the seizure, the tanker was taken to the port of Bandar Abbas with a crew of 23 people on board, seven of whom were released on 4 September.

His arrest came hours after the Gibraltar court announced the extension of the seizure of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, detained on 4 July by police and customs officials in Britain.

The government of Gibraltar and the United States said they suspected the cargo of the tanker to be destined for Syria, target since the beginning of the 2011 conflict of sanctions affecting its oil sector. After being allowed to leave on August 15, this renowned oilman Adrian Darya 1 left Gibraltar on the 18th, despite a last-minute request from the United States to extend his immobilization.

The Gibraltar authorities then claimed to have received Tehran's written promise not to send to Syria the 2.1 million barrels of oil that the ship was carrying, which Iran has denied. And on September 10, London accused Iran of breaking its word by delivering oil to Syria.

- High tensions -

These seizures of ships had come amidst tensions in the region exacerbated by the standoff between Iran and the United States, two enemy countries that have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1980.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have steadily increased since the US unilateral withdrawal in 2018 of the Iran nuclear deal and the return of heavy US sanctions against Iran.

In May and June, the United States accused Iran of attacking and sabotaging oil tankers in the Gulf region, where Tehran had also destroyed an American military drone.

Moreover, Iran was stung by accusations Monday of Paris, London and Berlin, who joined the United States in their challenge of the "responsibility" Iran in the attacks of 14 September against oil infrastructure Saudi. Iran has denied any link with these attacks that have further aggravated the US-Iranian confrontation.

© 2019 AFP