US: Release of Iranian tanker 'very unfortunate'

China Daily | Updated: 2019-08-21 07:09

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed frustration on Monday over the "very unfortunate" decision to release an Iranian tanker held off Gibraltar, in an implicit rebuke to its United Kingdom ally.

Gibraltar rejected a US demand to seize the vessel, which has since departed the territory and entered international waters.

Data from ship-tracking service MarineTraffic showed that the oil tanker set sail shortly before midnight on Sunday toward international waters and is heading for the Greek port of Kalamata, according to media reports.

"It's very unfortunate that the ship was released," Pompeo told Fox News when asked if the move was a mistake by the British.

Gibraltar seized the Grace 1 on July 4 on suspicion it was transporting oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions, triggering a sharp deterioration in relations between Teheran and London. Iran has repeatedly denied any violations.

Gibraltar's Supreme Court ordered the tanker released on Thursday, with Iranian officials saying a new crew had arrived to pilot the ship - now renamed the Adrian Darya 1 - and its 2.1 million barrels of oil.

But on Friday, the US Justice Department filed a last-minute request to detain the ship, alleging it was involved in supporting illicit shipments to Syria by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, listed as a terrorist group by Washington.

Gibraltar's government rejected that request, saying it could not seek a court order to detain the supertanker because US sanctions against Iran were not applicable in the European Union.

The US Department of State reiterated its position on Monday that the Adrian Darya 1 was "transporting illicit oil to fuel the Iranian regime's and Syrian regime's campaigns of terror and oppression", and it said that companies and mariners who assist it could be considered to be providing material support to a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

"We have conveyed our strong position to the Greek government on the matter, as well as all ports in the Mediterranean that should be forewarned about facilitating this vessel," it said.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday warned against any attempt by the US to seize the Iranian oil tanker.

The tanker's release came amid a growing confrontation between Iran and the West after US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of Teheran's nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago. The decision reimposed sanctions on Iran, stopping billions of dollars in business deals.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that his country was being discreet about the tanker's designation due to sanctions by the US, which he said "illegally tries to bully others from purchasing our oil".

The threat of punitive measures by the US for buying Iranian oil has discouraged many countries from purchasing it, though the oil itself is not subject to any UN or international sanctions.

Zarif said the tanker's seizure in early July by British Royal Marines "was not based on any law", speaking in English to reporters in Helsinki, Finland.

After the ship was detained, Iran seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero. Analysts had said the Iranian ship's release by Gibraltar might mean that the Stena Impero could go free.

But Iranian officials have denied there had been a tit-for-tat seizure, alleging that the Stena Impero was detained after it violated international maritime law while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Agencies - Xinhua