Iranian Tanker Departs Gibraltar After Failed U.S. Bid to Detain It

By Charles Penty and Verity Ratcliffe

The Government of Gibraltar says European Union regulations don’t allow it to seek a court order to seize a tanker which the U.S. accuses of breaching its sanctions by exporting Iranian oil.

The U.S. issued a warrant to seize the supertanker, which has been detained by the U.K. and Gibraltar since the beginning of July, on suspicion of hauling Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European sanctions, on Friday.

“The Central Authority’s inability to seek the Orders requested is a result of the operation of European Union law and the differences in the sanctions regimes applicable to Iran in the E.U. and the U.S.,” the Gibraltar government said in the statement. “The E.U. sanctions regime against Iran—which is applicable in Gibraltar—is much narrower than that applicable in the U.S.”

A complaint unsealed in Washington stated that “Oil Tanker ‘Grace 1,’ all petroleum aboard it and $995,000 are subject to forfeiture,” according to a Justice Department statement. The statement alleges a “scheme to unlawfully access the U.S. financial system to support illicit shipments” of oil from Iran to Syria in violation of U.S. sanctions, money laundering and terrorism statutes.

The tanker bore the name Grace 1 and a Panamanian flag when it was detained on July 4. It has since been re-flagged to Iran and its name changed to Adrian Darya 1.

Iran’s navy is ready to escort the supertanker if necessary, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported, citing a naval commander. “We have no intention of sending a flotilla to Gibraltar, but we are ready to do so to escort the Grace 1 back to Iran’s territorial waters,” the head of the army’s naval division, Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, said on Sunday at a global maritime event in Tehran.

The vessel, which is currently anchored off the coast of Gibraltar, is at the center of a diplomatic spat between the U.K. and the Trump administration. The U.S. has threatened to impose sanctions on anyone dealing with the ship and expressed disappointment with Britain after a court in Gibraltar ruled the ship was free to sail on Thursday.

Ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the ship or its crew might be subject to penalties, two U.S. administration officials said. Iran’s foreign minister said on Twitter that the ship’s detention was unlawful.

While the cargo was originally bound for Syria, Iran has provided assurance that this is no longer the case, according to the Gibraltar government. “The evidence is clear and the facts speak louder than the self-serving political statements we are hearing today,” according to the statement issued on Friday, which didn’t specify the comments it was referring to.

Missed Opportunity

The court’s decision Thursday to release the Grace 1 was a missed opportunity and the Trump administration hopes that the U.K. government and authorities in Gibraltar will reconsider, according to the U.S. officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. They said the court order rewards Iranian terrorism and Tehran will interpret the action as appeasement.

The American officials said the U.K. should think of the tanker issue in terms of the broader relationship with the U.S., particularly as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government presses forward with departing the European Union and seeks a free-trade agreement with the U.S. While the people wouldn’t say the release threatens prospects for that deal, they added that the U.K. should ask if it wants to do business with the U.S. or Iran.

Diplomatic Row

The seizure of the tanker has heightened tension between Iran and the West, in a relation already under strain since the U.S. reimposed sanctions last year. A series of vessel attacks and seizures have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for oil shipments.

Following the Grace 1’s detention, Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, the Stena Impero, which it continues to hold. The decision to release the tanker is unrelated to developments with the ship now known as Adrian Darya 1 and state officials must determine its fate, Alireza Tangsiri, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ naval division, said on Sunday, according to Mehr.

The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office cautioned that there was no connection between Gibraltar’s enforcement of sanctions and Iran’s activities at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

“There is no comparison or linkage between Iran’s unacceptable and illegal seizure of, and attacks on, commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the enforcement of EU Syria sanctions by the Government of Gibraltar,” it said in an emailed statement Thursday. “Freedom of navigation for commercial shipping must be respected and international law upheld.”

Heading for Greece

Adrian Darya changed its intended destination on Monday to the Greek port of Kalamata, from its previous indication of the Mediterranean Sea, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

It remains to be seen what will happen to the vessel now. The U.S. said it was gravely disappointed with Britain after Gibraltar’s release of the tanker, and it warned that ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the vessel or its crew might be subject to sanctions, according to two administration officials.

The waters off Kalamata could be a possible location for ship-to-ship cargo transfers, according to two vessel brokers without specific information about the tanker’s plans. Tanker crews enter destinations into ship logs that get picked up by vessel-tracking satellites. The destinations can be altered multiple times on the same journey.

The vessel’s status was “under way using engine” with speed of 6.7 knots as of 11:59 a.m. on Monday in Singapore, according to ship-tracking data. It has an estimated time of arrival at Kalamata of Aug. 25.

Photo: Bloomberg

Gibraltar Court Agrees to Release Detained Oil Tanker

By Jonathan Browning and Alex Longley

The U.S. is gravely disappointed with the U.K. after a Gibraltar court allowed the release of an Iranian tanker suspected of hauling oil to Syria, and threatened sanctions against ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the ship or its crew, two administration officials said.

The court’s decision Thursday to release the Grace 1 was a missed opportunity and the Trump administration hopes that the U.K. government and authorities in Gibraltar will reconsider, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. They said the court order rewards Iranian terrorism and Tehran will interpret the action as appeasement.

The Grace 1 had been held in Gibraltar after British forces seized it last month on suspicion that it was hauling Iranian crude oil to Syria. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to block the vessel’s release, but the Gibraltar Supreme Court on Thursday said American authorities hadn’t filed the appropriate legal application.

The two administration officials said the Grace 1 should now be considered a pariah. Anyone that does business with the ship, its crew or its owners, or provides financial transactions or port services to the vessel could be liable for evading U.S. sanctions, the officials said.

They argued that the U.K. should think of the tanker issue in terms of the broader relationship with the U.S., particularly as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government presses forward with departing the European Union and seeks a free-trade agreement with the U.S. While the people wouldn’t say the release threatens prospects for that deal, they added that the U.K. should ask if it wants to do business with the U.S. or Iran.

Iran said the ship wouldn’t sail to a sanctioned destination and is now rushing to return it to international waters before the U.S. finds a way to prolong its six-week detention.

“In light of the assurances we have received, there are no longer any reasonable grounds for the continued legal detention of the Grace 1 in order to ensure compliance” with European sanctions, the Gibraltar government said in an emailed statement.

The decision now essentially sets up a race between Iran and the U.S. over the ship’s fate. The vessel is bound for a port in the Mediterranean, Iran’s Mehr news agency said, citing Jalil Eslami, deputy for maritime affairs of the Iranian ports and maritime organization. Tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show that the vessel hadn’t moved as of 5:30 p.m. New York time.

Diplomatic Row

The seizure of the tanker set off a diplomatic row, underscoring tense relations between Iran and the West that have only worsened since the U.S. reimposed sanctions on the Persian Gulf state last year. Tensions have been high in the region in recent months amid a series of vessel attacks and seizures, which have threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical chokepoint for oil shipments.

Following the detention of the ship on July 4, Iran seized a British-flagged vessel, the Stena Impero, which it continues to hold.

Gibraltar’s decision to release the Grace 1 “is a satisfactory result for the U.K.,” Cara Hatton, an analyst at Falanx Assynt Ltd., a geopolitical risk consulting firm, said in an emailed statement. It “fully justifies Britain’s initial seizure of the ship, and increases the likelihood that Iran will now release the Stena Impero without giving the impression that the countries are engaged in a tanker swap.”

The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office cautioned that there was no connection between Gibraltar’s enforcement of sanctions and Iran’s activities at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

“There is no comparison or linkage between Iran’s unacceptable and illegal seizure of, and attacks on, commercial shipping vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the enforcement of EU Syria sanctions by the Government of Gibraltar,” it said in an emailed statement. “Freedom of navigation for commercial shipping must be respected and international law upheld.”

The two U.S. officials rejected that idea, saying that the U.K. was trying to deescalate the situation with Iran and remove any distractions it faces to focus on Brexit.

The Gibraltar government said in its statement that it held several meetings with Iranian representatives this month and last to negotiate the tanker’s fate, and on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic agreed that the ship’s final destination wouldn’t be subject to European Union sanctions.

Iran agreed to re-flag and insure the vessel, which was carrying about $140 million in crude oil to the Baniyas refinery in Syria. It will now travel under the Iranian flag.

Four crew members from the Grace 1—the captain, chief officer and two second mates—have been released, according to the Gibraltar government. The vessel’s captain has no intention of going back aboard the ship, said his lawyer, John Wilkinson. “He wants to go home to India,” he said. Most of the 28 crew are on board, he said.

Photo: Fleet Mon

Iran Says It Expects Tanker Held by U.K. to Be Released Soon

By Arsalan Shahla

Iran expects an oil tanker seized by the U.K. in the Strait of Gibraltar in July will be released soon, the semi-official Fars News agency reported Tuesday, a move that could help to ease concerns about the safety of shipping routes in the Middle East.

“Official and unofficial documents have been exchanged to resolve the matter and we hope the problem will be dealt with in the very near future,” Fars cited Jalil Eslami, deputy for maritime affairs at Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, as saying. The future of a U.K.-flagged tanker that Iran seized later in the Persian Gulf depends on “the necessary judicial processes,” Eslami added.

Iran’s Grace 1 tanker was seized by the Royal Navy on suspicion it was sending crude oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. Tehran denied breaking sanctions and two weeks later impounded the U.K.-flagged Stena Impero near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for oil.

Gibraltar’s Supreme Court is scheduled to hold its next hearing on the vessel on Thursday, according to the official Gibraltar news service in Spain. The current detention order for the ship expires late on Saturday, local media reported. A spokesperson for the U.K. Foreign Office said that the “ongoing investigation” into the Grace 1 was a matter for Gibraltar authorities.

The tanker seizures and other suspected Iranian operations against shipping in the Persian Gulf region have inflamed a crisis between Iran and the West triggered by the Trump administration’s decision to quit the multiparty nuclear deal with Iran a year ago and renew crippling economic sanctions. Iran has responded by abandoning some restrictions on uranium enrichment imposed by the 2015 accord.

The frictions on the seas have led the U.S. and U.K. to mount a joint mission to protect commercial shipping lanes in the Middle East. Reports of Israeli involvement in that mission have drawn fire from Tehran, and on Tuesday, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corp’s naval forces warned against “any illegal presence in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, especially Israel’s.”

“We in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps are in charge of providing security for the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, and there is no need for strangers,” Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri said, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Last week, Israel’s Ynet website reported that Israel is providing intelligence and other, unspecified assistance to U.S.-led efforts to protect Persian Gulf shipping routes. It cited Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s remarks to parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee.

Israel considers Iran to be its most formidable enemy, due to its nuclear work, ballistic missile program and support for anti-Israel militant groups in the Middle East. Iranian officials have also referred multiple times to Israel’s annihilation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied hard against the nuclear deal, and pressed President Donald Trump to abandon it.

Israel has been striking Iranian targets in Syria over the past few years in an effort to limit the Islamic Republic’s presence in its immediate neighborhood, and according to recent reports, has expanded those operations to hit Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

Photo: Fleet Mon

Bolton to Press Britain's Johnson on Iran

US National Security Advisor John Bolton was Monday to sound out British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on global disputes that include an escalating Gulf standoff with Iran.

The hawkish White House aide is the most senior US official to meet Johnson since he succeeded Theresa May as UK government leader last month.

A spokesman for Johnson said the two would talk about "a range of security issues, including Iran".

The meeting comes with US President Donald Trump's administration pursuing a "maximum pressure" campaign designed to force the Islamic republic to limit nuclear and military activities.

Washington also wants its close European ally to drop—or at the very least severely restrict—plans to use 5G technology made by China's Huawei when it rolls out the next-generation data network.

US media reports said Washington was not expecting a decision from London on either issue during Bolton's two-day visit.

The Downing Street spokesman said London's position on both Iran and Huawei "remains the same.”

Uncertain Future

Bolton's trip comes with Britain in political crisis and the pound straddling multi-year lows as deadline approaches for the UK to leave the EU after more than 40 years.

Johnson has vowed to meet the twice-delayed Brexit date—now October 31—even if it means leaving without a proper plan to regulate trade and other ties.

Senior UK economic officials and big industries warn that this "no-deal Brexit" option could create border chaos and set off global financial tremors in the short term.

The EU is refusing to re-open negotiations on the deal the bloc's 27 leaders signed last year with May. Johnson and his supporters call the existing agreement unfair.

But a clean break with the EU would allow the UK to immediately launch negotiations on a free trade agreement with the United States.

The US president openly rooted for Johnson during his campaign for May's job following her resignation over the Brexit impasse.

He branded Johnson as Britain's Trump and said the sides were on the verge of making a breakthrough in ties.

Britain and its European allies have irritated Trump's team by trying to save a landmark nuclear agreement with Iran which Washington pulled out of last year.

Britain last week decided to join forces with the US to protect merchant vessels in the Gulf.

It marked a departure in policy for Johnson following May's attempts to form a European-led group.

Britain's decision on Huawei—a private firm that Washington says is obliged to spy for the Chinese government—has been repeatedly delayed due to mixed signals from Trump about his own administration's next steps.

Johnson's spokesman said the UK government was "still assessing the impact" of Trump's decision in May to effectively ban Huawei from trading with US firms.

Photo: Wikicommons

Britain Rules Out Seized Tanker Swap With Iran

By Dmitry Zaks

Britain on Monday ruled out swapping seized oil tankers with Iran as a second UK warship arrived in the Gulf to conduct convoys that have irritated Tehran.

A sense of crisis in the world's busiest oil shipping lane has been building up for weeks as Iran responds to US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign.

The US economic sanctions and stepped-up military presence are designed to force Iran to renegotiate a landmark 2015 nuclear pact from which Trump pulled out last year.

Britain further outraged Iran by seizing one of its tankers—the Grace 1—on July 4 on suspicion of it carrying oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.

Iran vowed to retaliate and its Revolutionary Guards stormed and detained the UK-flagged Stena Impero and its 23 crew as they sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 20.

New British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab flatly rejected the idea of the two tankers being exchanged or simultaneously released in a bid to dial back the tensions.

"There is no quid pro quo," Raab told BBC radio.

"This is not about some kind of barter. This is about international law and the rules of the international legal system being upheld," he said.

"That is what we will insist on."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had hinted earlier that he was open to a tanker swap.

'Geopolitical Tussle'

Iran said on Sunday that its ship's seizure was also a violation of the 2015 nuclear pact that Britain co-signed and is trying to keep alive with EU allies.

Its remaining participants met in Vienna over the weekend for heated talks that also saw Iran lash out at Britain's proposal for European nations to lead a naval and air Gulf escort mission.

Britain's HMS Montrose frigate began helping UK-flagged tankers enter into and out of the Gulf last week.

Its naval presence near Iran grew to two with the arrival on Sunday of the HMS Duncan destroyer -- the most advanced warship Britain currently has.

The UK defence ministry said the two will conduct escorts together for the next month.

The Montrose will then go in for scheduled maintenance and be replaced by the HMS Kent frigate later this year.

"Freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is vital not just to the UK, but also our international partners and allies," UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.

Yet Britain's European force proposal is running up one already being prepared by the United States.

Both plans have strongly angered Tehran.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said on Sunday that the proposed European fleet "carries a hostile message, is provocative and will increase tensions".

Britain's Raab said London was still insisting on a European force -- despite the potential conflict with Washington.

"This shouldn’t be some sort of geopolitical, EU versus US tussle," he said in the radio interview.

"It should be (about) what puts us in the best position with the widest group of international actors to uphold the rule of law."

He added that "it would be important for the European-led initiative to have US support to make it viable".

European nations have responded to Britain's proposal with caution.

Photo: Mizan

Europeans Plan Naval Mission to Protect Ships in Persian Gulf

By Alex Morales and Robert Hutton

European governments will assemble a naval mission to provide safe passage for ships through the Persian Gulf, after Iran seized a British oil tanker in the region last week, an act that U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt described as “state piracy.”

Hunt announced a “European-led maritime protection mission to support safe passage of crew and cargo” in a statement to Britain’s Parliament in London on Monday.

The U.K. demanded the immediate release of the Stena Impero, and summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in London, Mohsen Omidzamani, following the incident in one of the world’s critical shipping chokepoints. The government threatened Iran with “serious consequences” and advised U.K. vessels to avoid the area, and to inform the government if they planned to travel there.

“Let us be clear, under international law Iran had no right to obstruct the ship’s passage, let alone board her,” Hunt told the House of Commons. “It was therefore an act of state piracy.”

The Foreign Secretary said the U.K. didn’t want to escalate tensions with Iran, which have been rising after the U.S. pulled out of the international nuclear deal and imposed new sanctions. Hunt said Britain won’t be taking part in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy, because the London government remains committed to the 2015 multi-nation pact to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

“If Iran continues on this dangerous path, they must accept the price will be a larger Western military presence in the waters along their coastline,” Hunt said. “Not because we wish to increase tensions but simply because freedom of navigation is a principle Britain and its allies will always defend.”

Tensions have flared in the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks as Iran lashes out against U.S. sanctions that are crippling its oil exports and after the seizure of one of its tankers near Gibraltar. The Strait accounts for about a third of the world’s seaborne oil flows.

With Theresa May set to leave office on Wednesday, the latest clash with Iran presents a diplomatic headache for her successor, either Boris Johnson, the front-runner, or Hunt, his rival.

U.S. Central Command has announced a “multinational maritime effort” called Operation Sentinel to “increase surveillance of and security in key waterways in the Middle East to ensure freedom of navigation in light of recent events in the Arabian Gulf region.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that the British ship entered the strait from the wrong direction, wasn’t paying heed to maritime regulations and could potentially have collided with other vessels. State television said the ship will be held until judicial assessments are complete.

On Sunday, the Iranian flag was seen flying over the bridge of the tanker in the Bandar Abbas port, according to images aired by state-run Press TV.

Iran has also suggested its actions are in retaliation for Britain’s seizure of the Grace 1 tanker off Gibraltar. A court in Gibraltar ordered the continued detention of the vessel for another 30 days, after it was held on suspicion of taking oil to Syria. Iran denies that was the destination.

In recent weeks the U.K. Navy has escorted some tankers out of the region, while the U.S. said it downed an Iranian drone just days ago. The latest incident cooled hopes that the U.S. and Iran would soothe tensions by entering into negotiations.

Photo: Royal Navy

UK Mulls Options as Iran Says Ship's Fate Depends on Probe

By Amir Havasi

Iran warned Sunday that the fate of a UK-flagged tanker it seized in the Gulf depends on an investigation, as Britain said it was considering options in response to the standoff.

Authorities impounded the Stena Impero with 23 crew members aboard off the port of Bandar Abbas after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized it Friday in the highly sensitive Strait of Hormuz.

Video footage released by the Guards showed a ship with the oil tanker's markings being surrounded by speedboats, before troops in balaclavas descend a rope from a helicopter onto the vessel.

In an audio recording of a radio exchange, an Iranian officer can be heard telling the tanker to change course.

"You are ordered: change your course to three six zero... immediately. If you obey, you will be safe," he said.

The British frigate HMS Montrose intervenes to inform the Stena its "passage must not be impaired, impeded, obstructed or hampered" under international law.

The Iranians then tell the British warship: "Foxtrot 236 this is Sepah navy patrol boat. No challenge is intended... I want to inspect the ship for security reason."

The authenticity of the recording, obtained and released by London-based maritime security risk analysts Dryad Global, was confirmed by the UK defence ministry.

London has warned its ships to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about a third of the world's sea-borne oil.

On Sunday evening, Iran's English-language Press TV broadcast live footage from the deck of the seized ship, flying an Iranian flag.

"IRGC forces manage to lead tanker to Iran shores despite UK warship's interference," said a news ticker on the channel.

Iran Urges Crew's 'Cooperation'

Iran opened the probe after detaining the ship on allegations it failed to respond to distress calls and turned off its transponder after hitting a fishing boat.

Its crew is made up of 18 Indians, including the captain, three Russians, a Latvian and a Filipino.

"All of them are in full health... anchored in a safe place," said Allah-Morad Afifipoor, director-general of the Hormozgan province port and maritime authority.

"The investigation depends on the cooperation by the crew members on the vessel," he told Press TV.

The ship's owner said it was in "international waters" when it was "attacked by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter".

Stena Bulk's chief Erik Hanell said Sunday the firm had formally asked Iranian authorities for permission to visit the vessel's crew, and was waiting for a response.

Tehran has been at loggerheads with Washington since May 2018, when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 deal putting curbs on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Tensions in the Gulf have escalated since May this year, when the US boosted its military presence in the region in response to "indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces".

The US administration reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, which retaliated by increasing its enrichment of uranium beyond limits set in the nuclear accord.

Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after the Islamic republic downed a US drone, one of a string of incidents including attacks on tankers in the Gulf.

'Tit-for-Tat'

Britain summoned Iran's charge d'affaires on Saturday and urged his country to de-escalate tensions and release the tanker.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the seizure showed "worrying signs Iran may be choosing a dangerous path of illegal and destabilising behaviour".

Hunt called it a "tit-for-tat" situation, which flared hours after a Gibraltar court extended by 30 days the detention of an Iranian tanker seized two weeks ago on allegations of breaching UN sanctions against Syria.

On Sunday junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood told Sky News that Britain was "going to be looking at a series of options", without giving further details.

Hunt has said parliament will be updated on Monday about what further measures the British government would take.

Iran has remained defiant.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that Trump's national security adviser John Bolton "is turning his venom against the UK in hopes of dragging it into a quagmire".

Nearby Oman, which maintains strong ties with Iran, joined calls for the release of the Stena Impero and urged London and Tehran to resolve the dispute.

Separately, Iran said one of its tankers held in its regional rival Saudi Arabia since being forced to seek repairs in the kingdom is returning home.

The Happiness 1 "has been released following negotiations and is now moving toward Persian Gulf waters," said transport minister Mohammad Eslami, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Photo: FleetMon

UK Says Iran Tanker Will be Freed After Guarantees on Destination

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sought to ease tensions with Iran on Saturday, saying a tanker held by Gibraltar would be released if Tehran guaranteed it was not heading to Syria.

He said he had a "constructive call" with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, who he said assured him that Tehran "is not seeking to escalate" tensions between the countries.

"I reassured him our concern was destination not origin of the oil on Grace One," a tanker seized off the coast of the tiny British territory of Gibraltar on July 4, Hunt tweeted.

An Iranian statement confirmed the conversation and said Hunt underlined Iran's "right to export oil". It added that Tehran hoped that an investigation in Gibraltar into the seized ship "would lead quickly to the release of the Iranian tanker".

US officials believe the tanker was destined for Syria to deliver oil, in violation of separate EU and US sanctions .

Hunt said Britain "would facilitate release if we received guarantees that it would not be going to Syria, following due process in Gib (Gibraltar) courts.

"Was told by FM Zarif that Iran wants to resolve issue and is not seeking to escalate."

Tehran had reacted angrily to the seizure, and Britain this week said Iranian military vessels had tried to "impede the passage" of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Detained British-Iranian Discussed

Iran, in its statement relayed by state media, said Zarif had told Hunt that his country would continue to export its oil "in all circumstances" and that the Grace One's destination was a "legal" one, in "the eastern
Mediterranean". He did not specify where. Iran has repeatedly said it deems US and EU sanctions against it as “illegal.”

Hunt said Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo was doing an "excellent job co-ordinating issue and shares UK perspective on the way forward.”

Hunt also said he raised with Zarif the imprisonment of British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and Zarif "said he would continue to seek to find a solution.”

Picardo said in a separate statement that he spoke with Hunt before and after the foreign secretary's conversation with Zarif and backed several of the points that were raised.

He said notably that he asked Hunt to tell Iran that Gibraltar would continue to enforce EU sanctions but it was also prepared to release the Grace One "if we were satisfied that we had received guarantees that it would not be going to Syria or to any entity sanctioned under the relevant EU regulations.”

He added that he was "pleased to hear of Iran's constructive approach and their wish also to resolve this situation, which comes at a time of heightened international tensions".

Photo: Wikicommons

Britain Says Iran Tried to 'Impede' UK Tanker in Persian Gulf

By Dmitry Zaks

Britain said on Thursday that Iranian military vessels tried to "impede the passage" of a UK oil tanker but were warned off by a British warship in a dramatic escalation of tensions with Tehran in the Persian Gulf.

The incident in the narrow but busy Strait of Hormuz occurred on Wednesday after President Donald Trump ratched up his own administration's pressure even further by warning that sanctions against the Islamic Republic would be "increased substantially" soon.

CNN initially reported that Iranian boats attempted to seize the British tanker but were driven off by a Royal Navy frigate.

The UK defense ministry said only that the Iranian boats tried to "impede" a commercial vessel called British Heritage, which is owned by British energy giant BP.

"Contrary to international law, three Iranian vessels attempted to impede the passage of a commercial vessel, British Heritage, through the Strait of Hormuz," the UK defense ministry said in a statement.

"HMS Montrose was forced to position herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away."

It also urged "the Iranian authorities to de-escalate the situation in the region".

Iran's Revolutionary Guards—a vast and powerful security organization that the United States blames for staging several tanker attacks since May—denied trying to seize or impede the UK tanker.

"There has been no confrontation in the last 24 hours with any foreign vessels, including British ones," the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.

'Path of Diplomacy Open'

The episode adds further fuel to a volatile mix of brinkmanship and saber rattling in a region already unsettled by the Trump administration's nuclear standoff with the Islamic Republic.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned Britain of unspecified "consequences" over last week's detention of one of its oil tankers off Gibraltar.

Officials in Gibraltar—a British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip—said the cargo was believed to be destined for Syria.

Damascus is subject to EU sanctions while the US has its own sets of trade restrictions on Iranian oil.

Iran condemned the detention as an "illegal interception."

Britain has denied suggestions from Gibraltar officials that it was acting on the orders of the United States.

Iran has been ramping up uranium enrichment in response to the Trump administration's decision last year to pull out of a landmark nuclear agreement world powers signed after a decades of talks with Tehran in 2015.

It surpassed one limit set in that deal one month ago and breached a second one on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne met with Rouhani on Wednesday in an attempt to mediate some sort of reprieve in the escalating standoff.

Rouhani told Bonne that Tehran had "completely kept the path of diplomacy and talks open," according to a statement issued by the Iranian presidency after the talks.

He called on other parties to the nuclear deal to "completely implement their commitments" to keep it alive.

Full Compliance 'Without Delay'

Britain and other European nations have been trying to save the agreement by setting up their own independent trade mechanism that evades US sanction on Tehran.

But Iran's decision to push ahead with enrichment to ever higher levels is putting the European strategy under strain.

European parties of the agreement issued a tough joint statement on Tuesday saying Iran must reverse its activities and return to full compliance "without delay.”

Photo: BP

British Foreign Minister Visits Iran for Nuclear Talks

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was to visit Iran for the first time on Monday for talks about the nuclear deal and freeing UK nationals held in Iranian jails.

Iran has been abiding by the terms of its nuclear deal with global powers, the latest report from the UN atomic watchdog indicated last week, days after fresh US sanctions hit the country.

US President Donald Trump has dramatically increased pressure on Tehran, withdrawing from an international agreement aimed at ending its nuclear program and introducing several rounds of unilateral sanctions.

Hunt's visit is the first by a Western foreign minister since the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal.

"The Iran nuclear deal remains a vital component of stability in the Middle East by eliminating the threat of a nuclearized Iran," Hunt said, in a statement issued in London.

"It needs 100-percent compliance though to survive. We will stick to our side of the bargain as long as Iran does.

"But we also need to see an end to destabilizing activity by Iran in the rest of the region if we are going to tackle the root causes of the challenges the region faces."

Hunt was to meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks on European efforts to maintain relief from nuclear-related sanctions.

Hunt was also due to discuss Iran's role in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and the ongoing cases of detained British-Iranian dual nationals.

One notable case is that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition.

"More than anything, we must see those innocent British-Iranian dual nationals imprisoned in Iran returned to their families in Britain," he said. 

"I have just heard too many heartbreaking stories from families who have been forced to endure a terrible separation.

"So I arrive in Iran with a clear message for the country's leaders: putting innocent people in prison cannot and must not be used as a tool of diplomatic leverage."

On Yemen, Hunt was to stress concerns at reports that Iran has supplied ballistic missiles and weapons to the Huthi rebels, his ministry said.

Photo Credit: IRNA

UK Investor Halts Iran Solar Project Over US Sanctions

British group Quercus, an investor in renewable energy, said Tuesday it will halt work on a major solar plant in Iran after the country was hit by US economic sanctions.  

"Following the US sanctions on Iran, we have decided to cease all activities in the country, including our 600 MW (megawatt) project," Quercus chief executive Diego Biasi said Tuesday in comments later confirmed by a company spokesman.

The US last week reimposed sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump's withdrawal from a nuclear accord in May.

Trump insisted that the 2015 deal with Iran—designed to prevent the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon and that was signed also by Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia—did not go far enough.

Several major foreign companies have either already exited Iran or are planning to cease activities in the country as a result of the US sanctions impacting their business activities.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Israel Claims 'Underline Importance' of Iran Nuclear Deal: UK

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's presentation on Iran's nuclear program "underlines the importance" of the controls imposed on Tehran in the 2015 deal, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Tuesday.

"The Israeli prime minister's presentation on Iran's past research into nuclear weapons technology underlines the importance of keeping the Iran nuclear deal's constraints on Tehran's nuclear ambitions," Johnson said in a Foreign Office statement.

With US President Donald Trump weighing up whether to stay in the deal, Johnson insisted that the agreement was not "based on trust about Iran's intentions"—the core of Netanyahu's claims—"rather it is based on tough verification" by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

 "The fact that Iran conducted sensitive research in secret until 2003 shows why we need the intrusive inspections allowed by the Iran nuclear deal today," added Johnson. 

The 2015 deal negotiated between Iran and six world powers, including Britain, imposes nuclear inspections on Iran in return for the loosening of economic sanctions, but Trump is threatening to pull out.

Johnson insisted that the verification provisions in the deal "would make it harder for Iran to restart any such research."

"That is another good reason for keeping the deal while building on it in order to take account of the legitimate concerns of the US and our other allies," he added.

The Israeli premier has repeatedly called for the deal to be either altered or scrapped, but did not present evidence on Monday that Iran had actively worked to obtain an atomic weapon since the deal was struck.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons