Iran demands UK release oil tanker held in Gibraltar

TEHERAN - Iran demanded on Friday that the United Kingdom immediately release an oil tanker it has detained in Gibraltar, accusing it of acting at the bidding of the United States.

A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official "described the UK move as unacceptable" in a meeting with British Ambassador to Iran Rob Macaire, who had been summoned to hear a formal protest, the ministry said in a statement.

He "called for the immediate release of the oil tanker, given that it has been seized at the request of the US, based on the information currently available", the statement added.

Authorities in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip at the western entrance to the Mediterranean, said they suspected the tanker was carrying crude to Syria in violation of sanctions by the European Union.

The detention of the 330-meter Grace 1 vessel came at a sensitive time in Iran-EU ties as the bloc mulls how to respond to Teheran announcing it is poised to breach the uranium enrichment limit it agreed to in a troubled 2015 nuclear deal.

The Grace 1 tanker was halted in the early hours of Thursday by police and customs agencies in Gibraltar, aided by a detachment of British Royal Marines. The ship was detained 4 kilometers south of Gibraltar.

"We have reason to believe that the Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to the Banyas refinery in Syria," Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said in a statement. "That refinery is the property of an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions against Syria.

Spain, which lays claim to the territory, says they are Spanish.

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said the vessel was detained at the request of the US.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said: "We welcome this firm action to enforce EU sanctions against the Syrian regime and commend those Gibraltarian authorities involved in successfully carrying out this morning's operation."

EU sanctions against Syria have been in force since late 2011.

The tanker's detention came just days after Iran announced it would exceed the uranium enrichment limit set up as part of the 2015 deal to avoid it building up to the level required for a nuclear warhead.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton applauded the interception of the supertanker.

Agencies

(China Daily 07/06/2019 page8)