Iran Says It Could Release UK-Flagged Tanker Within Days

Iran on Sunday hinted that it could release "within days" a UK-flagged oil tanker it had seized in July in sensitive Gulf waters amid rising hostilities with Britain's ally the United States.

Foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told state television the "necessary steps" to set the Swedish-owned ship free were "underway.”

"The final steps of the legal procedure are underway and, God willing, the boat will be released in the coming days," he said, without giving further details.

The seizure of the Stena Impero was seen as a tit-for-tat move after British authorities detained an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar in July on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.

Gibraltar released the ship—formerly called the Grace 1 but since renamed the Adrian Darya 1—on August 18 after receiving written assurances from Iran that it would not head to countries under EU sanctions.

Tehran denied it had made any promises about the destination of the ship laden with 2.1 million barrels of oil, which had been elusive since leaving Gibraltar .

On Sunday, Mousavi said the Adrian Darya "has reached its destination and the oil has been sold", without providing further details.

Mousavi did not specify if the Adrian Darya had unloaded its cargo

"It is in the Mediterranean," he said, facing the coast of a country he did not name.

Iran last month said it had "sold the oil" aboard the tanker and that the owner will decide the destination, but it did not identify the buyer.

Maritime tracking service TankerTrackers said that as of Sunday night the Adrian Darya was off the coast of Syria's Tartus but had not unloaded the oil.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized the Stena Impero on July 19 in the Strait of Hormuz with 23 crew members on board, claiming it broke "international maritime rules".

On Wednesday, the Swedish foreign ministry said that some of the crew had been released, after the vessel's owners said they expected seven to be set free on that day.

Tensions between arch-enemies Iran and the US have soared ever since Washington stepped up its campaign of "maximum pressure" against Tehran and reimposed sanctions after leaving the landmark 2015 nuclear deal last year.

Photo: Fleetmon

Iran Denies Giving Gibraltar Assurances for Release of Tanker

By Amir Havasi

Iranian officials on Friday denied that any assurances were given to Gibraltar to release an Iranian tanker now sailing on into the Mediterranean, calling it a "victory" for Tehran.

The ship's seizure, with the help of British Royal Marines, had triggered a sharp deterioration in relations between Tehran and London and what Britain saw as the tit-for-tat detention by Iran of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero.

Gibraltar's Supreme Court ordered the tanker released on Thursday after the British overseas territory said it had received written assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not head to any country subject to European Union sanctions.

The ship had been detained on suspicion that its cargo was destined for the Banias oil refinery in Syria in breach of an EU embargo.

But Iran denied it had provided any assurances to secure the ship's release, saying Gibraltar was only seeking to "save face.”

"Iran has given no assurances over the Grace 1 not going to Syria to secure its release," the state broadcaster's youth website quoted foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying Friday.

"The tanker's destination was not Syria ... and even if it was, it did not concern anyone else."

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei hailed a victory for Iran that he said had been achieved without making any concessions.

"Our illegally seized oil tanker is set free. This victory without giving any collateral is the result of #powerful_diplomacy and strong will to fight for a nation's rights," Rabiei said in a tweet.

Tanker to Fly Iran Flag

The Grace 1 will be renamed and switch to the Iranian flag for its onward journey into the Mediterranean, senior Iranian shipping official Jalil Eslami said.

"At the owner's request, the Grace 1 will depart for the Mediterranean after being reflagged under the Islamic Republic of Iran's flag and renamed as Adrian Darya for the voyage," Eslami told state television.

The ship was originally Panama-flagged and is carrying two million barrels of Iranian oil, he added.

Hours before the court's ruling, the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has waged a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Iran, launched a last-minute legal move demanding that the Gibraltar authorities extend the vessel's detention.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US attempt at "piracy" had failed, saying it showed the Trump administration's "contempt for the law".

Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran last year and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions.

Following the Grace 1's release, Britain renewed its demand that Iran release the British-flagged tanker it seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19.

Tehran charged that the Stena Impero was in violation of "international maritime rules" but the move was widely seen as retaliation for the detention of the Grace 1.

The July 4 seizure of the tanker Grace 1 in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar with a cargo of Iranian oil had triggered a sharp deterioration in relations between Tehran and London and the detention by Iran of a British-flagged ship.

Photo: IRNA

Oil Prices Jump 6% as Trump Says Iran Made 'Very Big Mistake'

Oil prices jumped Thursday on rising US-Iran tensions, with gains accelerating on a cryptic tweet by US President Donald Trump after Iranian forces shot down a US spy drone.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran had made a "very big" error, after Iranian forces shot down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Near 1505 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbed 6.3 percent to $57.13 a barrel, while Brent futures in London gained 4.7 percent to $64.69 a barrel.

"Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in his first public reaction to the strike.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier said it had brought down the surveillance drone after it entered its country's airspace. The Pentagon said the incident occurred in international airspace.

The drone shooting adds to growing tensions as Tehran pushes back against surging US diplomatic, economic and military pressure.

Trump has repeatedly said he does not favor war with Iran unless it is to stop the country getting a nuclear weapons—something Iranian leaders insist they are not pursuing.

Critics of the Trump administration say that his policy of "maximum pressure"—including crippling economic sanctions, abandonment of a complex international deal to regulate Iran's nuclear activities, and deployment of extra sea, air and land forces to the region—make war ever more likely.

The drone downing came as Iran was already accused by Washington of having carried out explosions on two oil tankers in the congested Hormuz area. Tehran denies having been behind the attacks but has frequently threatened in the past to block the sea-lanes used by shipping to move much of the world's oil exports.

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Shoots Down US Drone as Tensions Soar

By Marc Jourdier

Iran shot down a US spy drone Thursday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides at odds whether it was in Iranian or international airspace, in the latest incident stoking tensions between the arch-foes.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the "US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone" was hit with a missile "after violating Iranian air space" over the waters of Hormozgan province.

The Pentagon confirmed a US surveillance drone was shot down by Iranian forces, but it insisted the unmanned aircraft was in international airspace.

The incident comes at a time of growing antagonism between Iran and the United States following two waves of still unexplained attacks on Gulf shipping, which Washington has blamed on Tehran.

Iran has denied any involvement and hinted the US might have orchestrated them itself to provide a pretext for the use of force against the Islamic Republic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said any use of force by the United States against Iran "would be a disaster for the region.”

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the downing of the drone was "a clear message" his country will defend its borders.

Iran will "respond to all foreign aggression and our reaction is, and will be, categorical and absolute", General Hossein Salami said, quoted by Tasnim news agency.

"We declare that we are not looking for war but we are ready to respond to any declaration of war," he added.

The Pentagon said later in a statement that an Iranian surface-to-air missile had brought down a US Gold Hawk high-altitude drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

"Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," it said.

 "This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace."

World oil prices rebounded strongly on the news, with London's Brent North Sea crude up 2.78 percent to $63.54 per barrel in midday trading and New York's West Texas Intermediate up 3.42 percent to $55.60.

'Maximum pressure'

Tensions have been running high between Iran and the United States ever since President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement in May last year.

The subsequent reimposition of crippling unilateral sanctions has dealt a heavy blow to Iran's already flagging economy.

Washington has also bolstered its military presence in the Middle East in a campaign of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.

Its deployment to the Gulf of an aircraft carrier task force as well as B-52 bombers, an amphibious assault ship and a missile defense battery has sparked fears of fresh conflict in the region.

One of the two tankers attacked in the Gulf of Oman last week was damaged by a limpet mine, the US military said Wednesday.

Commander Sean Kido of US Naval Forces Central Command, or NAVCENT, said the mine used in the attack "is distinguishable and it is also strikingly bearing a resemblance to Iranian mines that have already been publicly displayed in Iranian military parades.”

The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, loaded with highly flammable methanol, came under attack on June 13 as it passed through the Gulf of Oman along with the Norwegian-operated Front Altair.

Fingerprints

It was the second attack in a month on ships in the strategic shipping lane.

On May 12, two Saudi oil tankers and two other vessels were damaged in mysterious "sabotage attacks" in the Gulf of Oman off the United Arab Emirates.

Kido told reporters in the UAE emirate of Fujairah that the US military had recovered "biometric information" of the assailants on the Kokuka Courageous including fingerprints.

This information "can be used to build a criminal case", Kido said as the US Navy took journalists to the damaged ship currently anchored some 14 kilometres (nine miles) off Fujairah.

Defence Minister Amir Hatami flatly rejected allegations Iran was behind the twin attacks.

"Accusations levelled against Iran's armed forces and the published film with regards to the incident (that) happened to the vessels... are unsubstantiated and we categorically reject these accusations," the official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

Washington has released images and a grainy black-and-white video it says shows Iranians on a patrol boat removing an unexploded limpet mine attached to the Kokuka Courageous.

The US commander Kido said there was an "ongoing joint and combined investigation with our regional partners into the attacks" on the two tankers.

Photo: US Air Force