Asia

Home page

Asia

Iran demands UK release Syria-bound oil tanker held in Gibraltar

05 July 2019 11:40 (UTC +04:00)

Iran has condemned the "illegal" seizure of an oil tanker by Britain in Gibraltar and demanded its immediate release, APA reports citing Aljazeera.

A senior Iranian foreign ministry official "described the UK move as unacceptable" in a meeting with the British ambassador, who had been summoned to hear a formal protest, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

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.

British Royal Marines, police and customs agents on Thursday stopped and seized the Grace 1 vessel on suspicion it carried Iranian crude oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

John Bolton, White House national security adviser, applauded the interception of the supertanker.

"Excellent news: UK has detained the supertanker Grace I laden with Iranian oil bound for Syria in violation of EU sanctions," Bolton said on Twitter.

While Europe has banned oil shipments to Syria since 2011, it had never seized a tanker at sea. Unlike the United States, Europe does not have broad sanctions against Iran.

"This is the first time that the EU has done something so public and so aggressive. I imagine it was also coordinated in some manner with the US given that NATO member forces have been involved," said Matthew Oresman, a partner with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who advises firms on sanctions.

"This is likely to have been meant as a signal to Syria and Iran - as well as the US - that Europe takes sanctions enforcement seriously and that the EU can also respond to Iranian brinkmanship related to ongoing nuclear negotiations."