EU Backs US-Iran Talks But Says Nuclear Deal Must Stay

By Damon Wake

The EU's diplomatic chief said Thursday the bloc would support talks between the United States and Iran, but only if the current nuclear deal with Tehran is preserved.

Washington and Tehran have been locked in a bitter standoff since last year when US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its atomic programme.

Tensions have risen dramatically in the Gulf, where Iran has seized tankers, but EU countries are reluctant to join a US-led operation to protect commercial shipping.

Instead, EU foreign and defense ministers meeting in Helsinki discussed the possibility of launching their own observation mission in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important choke point at the entrance to the Gulf.

The idea of direct talks between Washington and Tehran as a way out of the crisis grew this week after Trump mooted the idea and the new US defence secretary urged Iran's leaders to engage.

The European Union has desperately sought to prevent the deal from collapsing completely, arguing it is the best way to stop Iran developing nuclear bombs.

EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini gave a cautious welcome to the idea of negotiations, after Trump said Monday he was ready to meet Iran's President Hassan Rouhani within weeks.

"We are always in favor of talks, the more people talk, the more people understand each other better, on the basis of clarity and on the basis of respect," Mogherini said as she arrived for the Helsinki meeting.

But she added that "first and foremost what is existing needs to be preserved"—referring to UN Security Council resolutions and specifically the 2015 deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

"We will always advocate for the full respect by all sides of the UNSC resolutions and that includes the JCPOA," she said.

At the recent G7 summit in Biarritz, Trump showed openness to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal of a summit with Rouhani.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper followed up on Wednesday by urging Tehran to negotiate, but Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted Washington must respect the deal and halt what he called "economic terrorism" against his country.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas welcomed the "greater willingness for dialogue" seen since the G7 and urged Iran to engage.

"It is now a matter of operationalizing this and ensuring that everyone makes a contribution -- including Iran—which leads to de-escalation in the region," Maas said.

Persian Gulf Missions

Maritime security and the Middle East are on the agenda in Helsinki, but apart from Britain, there has been little European enthusiasm for Washington's Operation Sentinel in the Gulf.

Esper said the effort to protect shipping on crucial oil trade routes was now "up and running" with help from Britain, Australia and Bahrain.

French Defence Minister Florence Parly said that up to five countries had signed up for a potential EU observation mission.

"We must guarantee free navigation and security in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital region for the transport of hydrocarbons," she told AFP.

"But there is no question of creating an escort force -- rather a dissuasive presence with an exchange of information."

France, which already has a warship in the region, is keen to avoid any perception that it is aligning itself to Trump's strategy of "maximum pressure" on Iran.

A report by the German Council on Foreign Relations think tank assessing the options for an observer mission suggested it could require significant resources: five frigates or destroyers with helicopters, three maritime reconnaissance aircraft and at least one supply ship.

Iran has said that sending a "European fleet" to the Gulf would be a provocative move and other EU countries struck a more cautious note.

"If we speak about whatever operation there we need to be careful to avoid any kind of military escalation," said Edgars Rinkevics, foreign minister of Latvia, which currently has one of its seamen in Iranian custody.

"In my own country we are very far away from any kind of position that would be supportive of any kind of engagement there."

In response to the US pulling out of the deal and reimposing sanctions, Tehran has breached certain limits on its nuclear production imposed by the accord.

An EU official said the focus now was on ensuring these breaches do not become irreversible.

An Iranian delegation is expected in Paris next week and a meeting between senior Iranian and EU officials is planned soon.

Photo: Wikicommons

US Defense Chief Urges Iran to Hold Talks with US

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged Iran Wednesday to enter discussions with the United States in order to ease tensions in the Persian Gulf region.

"We are not seeking conflict with Iran. We want to engage with them diplomatically," Esper said in his first formal press conference after being confirmed last month.

"The president said once again he is willing to meet with Iran's leaders," he said.

"We hope that the Iranians would agree to meet and talk and help us resolve these issues."

At the G7 meeting in Biarritz, France on Monday, Trump, whose government has aggressively sought to pressure Tehran, showed openness to French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal of a summit with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.

"If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that," Trump said at a joint press conference with Macron.

That could be the ice-breaker needed to end more than two years of heightened hostilities between the two countries.

Breaking with his predecessor Barack Obama, Trump enacted a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program and last year unilaterally withdrew from the landmark 2015 international deal that placed limits on Tehran's nuclear activities.

Tensions over that move have gradually risen, with Iran seizing tankers in the Gulf in recent months and Britain detaining an Iranian tanker off of Gibraltar.

In the wake of that, the US launched its "Operation Sentinel," a naval operation to protect commercial shipping in the Gulf.

"I am pleased to report that Operation Sentinel is up and running, with the UK, Australia and Bahrain joining us in this effort," Esper said.

He said other countries would likely soon join, and that the operation had helped calm the region.

"Between our presence and the presence of our allies and partners in the region, I think so far, further bad, provocative behavior has been deterred," Esper said.

"We want to talk to Iran, and talk about a diplomatic path forward," he said, adding: "I'm not sure I'm ready to call the crisis over yet. So far, so good."

Photo: Wikicommons

Iran Says Delegation to Visit France as Talks Progress

Iran is sending a delegation to France next week after progress was made in talks to defuse tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal, a senior official said Wednesday.

Tehran and Washington have been locked in a bitter standoff since last year when US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its atomic program.

At the height of the crisis in June, Iran shot down a US drone in the Gulf and Trump approved a retaliatory strike against the Islamic republic before canceling it at the last minute.

“A delegation is going to France next week and they will negotiate... issues," said Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

"These negotiations have made relatively good progress since last week," Vaezi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

The newly announced visit comes after Iran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif travelled to France on Sunday for the second time in a matter of days

Zarif held meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz after which Trump said he was open to meeting his Iranian counterpart.

Rouhani has since played down the prospect of meeting Trump, however, saying the Americans would have to take the first step and lift all sanctions against Iran.

In response to the US withdrawal and its imposition of crippling sanctions, Iran has hit back by abandoning commitments under the nuclear deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

French President Emmanuel Macron has been leading efforts to ease the situation, urging the United States to allow Iran to sell oil to China or India or give it access to a new line of credit

Vaezi refused to reveal details on any package in his remarks on Wednesday.

"Until the issue is finalised, no details will be announced," he said, according to IRNA.

"What we have been doing with France... is restoring Iran's rights under the JCPOA and lifting unjust sanctions," he added.

Photo; IRNA

Japan PM Abe to Meet Iran's Rouhani in New York

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in New York next month as Tokyo continues to seek a leading role in attempts to defuse rising tension in the Middle East.

Japan's foreign ministry said Wednesday the meeting was arranged during Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's visit to Tokyo on Tuesday, and would take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Japan has long been a major importer of Iranian oil and was one of eight countries given a waiver by Washington on buying directly from Tehran.

Sanctions were imposed after the US President Donald Trump abandoned the Iranian nuclear agreement struck by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Other signatories—including major European nations—disagreed with Trump's action.

"I have received clear words from Supreme Leader Khamenei that he does not wish to build, possess and to use nuclear weapons," Abe told Zarif during Tuesday's meeting.

“Japan wishes to continue diplomatic efforts toward stabilizing the situation," Abe said.

Abe travelled to Iran in June and met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as Rouhani in a bid to ease tension between Tehran and Washington.

Zarif made an unannounced appearance at the G7 in France, with the global elite group hoping the surprise visit would help ease friction between Iran and the US.

US President Donald Trump did not meet Zarif, but said he would be willing to hold talks with Rouhani in the near future.

Rouhani said a meeting could only take place if the US first scrapped the sanctions.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Tells US to Take 'First Step' by Ending Sanctions

By David Vujanovic

President Hassan Rouhani Tuesday told the United States to "take the first step" by lifting all sanctions against Iran, a day after US President Donald Trump said he was open to meeting.

Trump said on Monday he was ready to meet with his Iranian counterpart within weeks, in a potential breakthrough reached during a G7 summit in the French seaside resort of Biarritz.

Iran's economy has been battered by US sanctions imposed after Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States in May last year from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and world powers.

"The step is to retreat from sanctions. You must retreat from all illegal, unjust and wrong sanctions against the nation of Iran," Rouhani said in a speech aired live on state television.

"The key for positive change is in the hands of Washington," he said, because Iran had already ruled out ever doing what worries the US the most -- building an atomic bomb.

"If honestly this is your only concern, this concern has already been removed" through a fatwa issued by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Iranian president.

"We don't (intend to) make an atomic bomb... our military doctrine is based on conventional arms."

Khamenei issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2003 and has reiterated it several times since.

"So take the first step. Without this step, this lock will not be unlocked," Rouhani said at a Tehran event marking the start of work on a housing project.

No Photo Opportunities

In Biarritz, French President Emmanuel Macron said the "conditions for a meeting" between Trump and Rouhani "in the next few weeks" had been created through intensive diplomacy and consultations.

Trump, speaking at the final news conference of the G7 summit, said he "would certainly agree to that.

He added that the timeline proposed by Macron was realistic.

Trump was equally confident that Rouhani would be in favour.

"I think he's going to want to meet. I think Iran wants to get this situation straightened out," he added.

But Zarif said on Tuesday that he had made it known during the G7 summit that a meeting between Rouhani and Trump would be highly improbable even if the United States returned to the nuclear deal.

"On my trip to Biarritz I said that a meeting between Iran's president and Trump is not imaginable" until America rejoins the nuclear pact, said Zarif.

"Even at that time, we will not have a bilateral negotiation," added Zarif, who is now on a tour of Asia, in remarks aired on state television.

Rouhani has indicated he is open to holding talks with the Americans, but it is an approach that has faced criticism from ultra-conservatives in the Islamic republic.

In his speech on Tuesday, Rouhani said his government's policy of "constructive interaction" with the world was in line with the supreme leader's approach of "extensive interaction".

But he stressed the United States had to "retreat from their mistakes" and return to commitments made under the nuclear deal.

"Our path is clear if they come back to their commitments, we too will fully act on our commitments. If they do not come back to their commitments, we will continue our path," said Rouhani.

But the Iranian president said he was not just looking for photo opportunities.

"We seek to resolve issues and problems in a rational way but we are not after photos. For anyone wanting to take a picture with Hassan Rouhani, this is not possible," he said.

The possible meeting between Rouhani and Trump was blasted as a photo opportunity Tuesday on the front page of the Javan newspaper close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Trump has put in place a policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran through crippling sanctions that critics see as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East between the US and Iran.

Both Rouhani and Trump are scheduled to be in New York for the UN General Assembly at the end of September which could provide a stage for talks.

Photo; IRNA

Trump Says Talks with Rouhani Within Weeks Sounds Realistic

US President Donald Trump said he was prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani in the next few weeks after talks over Tehran's nuclear program at a G7 summit in France.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise appearance on the sidelines of the summit in Biarritz on Sunday at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron said that the "conditions for a meeting" between Trump and Rouhani to take place "in the next few weeks" had been created through intensive diplomacy and consultations.

"If the circumstances were correct, I would certainly agree to that," Trump said at a joint press conference with Macron.

Asked by reporters if he thought the timeline proposed by his French counterpart sounded realistic, Trump replied: "It does", adding he thought Rouhani would also be in favor.

"I think he's going to want to meet. I think Iran wants to get this situation straightened out," Trump added.

Trump has put in place a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program via crippling sanctions that are seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

The US president last year unilaterally pulled out of a landmark 2015 international deal that placed limits on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for trade, investment and sanctions relief.

Rouhani defended Zarif's Biarritz visit in a speech aired live on state television on Monday.

"I believe that for our country's national interests we must use any tool," he said.

But hardliners have criticized the initiative, with the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper saying the trip was "improper" and sent "a message of weakness and desperation."

Macron has urged the US administration to offer some sort of sanctions relief to Iran, such as lifting sanctions on oil sales to China and India, or a new credit line to enable exports.

In return, Iran would return to complying with the 2015 deal.

Commenting on the talks about Iran at the G7, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "It's a big step forward. Now there is an atmosphere in which talks are welcomed."

Photo: G7

Iran Sold Oil Wanted by U.S. But Doesn't Know Where It Is Going

By Arsalan Shahla and Mahmoud Habboush

Iran said it sold an oil cargo on board a contested tanker sailing the Mediterranean Sea but didn’t know where the vessel was going amid U.S. efforts to block delivery of the crude.

The Adrian Darya 1, the tanker that the U.S. sought to seize in Gibraltar last week, was sailing more than halfway into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday without declaring any destination. Iran didn’t identify the buyer of the roughly 2 million-barrel cargo.

The buyer will determine where the oil is delivered, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said announcing the sale. He didn’t say when Iran sold the crude in comments carried by state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran’s tanker fleet is under intense scrutiny as the U.S. seeks to cut off the Islamic republic’s ability to sell crude, normally the country’s main export earner. Iran’s oil sales have tumbled under U.S. sanctions threatening to punish most interactions with the Iranian government over its nuclear program.

French President Emmanuel Macron renewed efforts over the weekend to save the 2015 nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic. Both Iran and other signatories to the deal oppose the U.S. President Donald Trump’s tougher measures and Macron proposed allowing the Middle Eastern producer to sell more crude in exchange for returning to full compliance with the agreement. Macron discussed the idea in meetings with Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Biarritz, the site of the Group of Seven summit.

Those discussions would likely do little to solve the immediate problem of the Adrian Darya 1. The Trump Administration is seeking to block the tanker’s voyage by threatening sanctions to stop the ship from being able to call in any port or offload any oil.

The tanker on Sunday changed the signal sent from the vessel’s satellite transponder to “For Order,” a designation meaning the ship isn’t disclosing any destination, according to Bloomberg tanker-tracking data. The Adrian Darya 1, which last week changed names from Grace 1, was sailing south of the Greek mainland, according to tanker-tracking data.

The ship had on Saturday signaled Turkey’s port of Mersin, switching from the previous target of Kalamata in Greece. Greek officials said the ship would be unwelcome after the U.S. threatened sanctions against anyone aiding the tanker, while a stop in Turkey would also pose complications in an already fraught relationship.

The vessel may seek to transfer the crude to smaller ships for delivery to Turkey or Syria and could “go dark,” turning off its satellite transponder to mask the location of any unloading. The vessel’s current trajectory could lead to any of the ports in the eastern Mediterranean or, potentially, to the Suez Canal.

The Aryan Darya 1 wouldn’t be able to transit Suez without offloading some of the oil on board since a fully laden tanker of that size would sit too deep in the water to make the passage. The Suez Canal leads to the Red Sea and from there the vessel could sail on to the Persian Gulf and Iran.

A U.S. attempt to seize the tanker before leaving Gibraltar was denied by a court in Gibraltar. A court in the territory refused the petition from the American government since, while European Union rules prohibit dealing with sanctioned entities in Syria, they are less comprehensive than U.S. sanctions law with regards to Iranian oil sales.

Photo: Bloomberg

Iran President Makes Case for Talks as G7 Gambit Slammed

By David Vujanovic

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani came out strongly in favor of talks Monday as his top diplomat came under fire from ultra-conservative media for a surprise visit to a G7 summit.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew in to the French seaside resort of Biarritz on Sunday for meetings on the sidelines of the G7 gathering.

"I believe that for our country's national interests we must use any tool," Rouhani said in a speech aired live on state television.

"And if I knew that I was going to have a meeting with someone that would (lead to) prosperity for my country and people's problems would be resolved, I would not hesitate.

"The main thing is our country's national interests," he said to a round of applause from those gathered at an event marking government achievements in rural areas.

Rouhani's remarks came as his government faced criticism over Zarif's visit to Biarritz at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron has been leading diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions between Iran and its arch-enemy the United States.

Iran's economy has been battered by US sanctions imposed since last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and world powers.

The ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper strongly criticised Zarif's visit on Monday in an article that called the trip "improper".

Kayhan said the fact that the minister's visit was the second to France in a matter of days sent "a message of weakness and desperation".

"These improper measures are taken in the fantasy of an opening but it will definitely have no outcome other than more insolence and pressure," it added.

'Weakness and Desperation'

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also criticised engagement with Iran's foes.

Their "hostility and confrontation with the Islamic Revolution is endless and it cannot be resolved or reconciled through negotiation and dialogue," said Abdollah Haji-Sadeghi.

"We should not expect anything else but aggression, attacks, sedition and hostility" from the enemy, he was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The reformist Etemad newspaper, however, described Zarif's trip to France as "the most hopeful moment" for Iran in the 15 months since the US withdrew from the nuclear deal.

"Given Macron's attempts over the last two months, one can be hopeful that Trump's response to Macron's ideas has been the main reason for Zarif's... trip to Biarritz," it said.

The spike in tensions between Iran and the United States has threatened to spiral out of control in the past few weeks, with ships mysteriously attacked, drones downed and tankers seized.

Rouhani said his government was ready to use "both hands" of power and diplomacy.

"They may seize our ship somewhere... we will both negotiate... and we may seize their ship for legal reasons," he said, referring to an Iranian oil tanker seized off Gibraltar that has since been released and a British-flagged vessel still impounded by Iran in the Gulf.

"We can work with two hands... the hand of power and the hand of diplomacy," said the Iranian president.

"We must use both our power, our military and security power, economic and cultural power and our political power. We must negotiate. We must find solutions. We must reduce problems.

"Even if the probability of success... is 10 percent, we must endeavor and go ahead. We must not lose opportunities."

Photo: IRNA

Iran Turns to Asian Allies to Seek Relief from US Sanctions

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif kicked off his Asian tour in Beijing Monday, presenting a 25-year plan to cement Iran's ties with its biggest Asian trading partner amid biting US sanctions.

Zarif's Asian tour—which also includes stopovers in Japan and Malaysia—comes fresh on the heels of a surprise visit to the G7 summit in France over the weekend.

The summit in Biarritz saw a dramatic shift of focus when Zarif flew in at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the diplomatic deadlock on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

Iran's top diplomat didn't meet US President Donald Trump, French diplomats said, but the presence of the two men in the same place at least sparked hopes of detente.

Zarif was a key architect of the 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran, the United States, European powers, Russia and China.

In Beijing, Zarif met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and said the pair had discussed a 25-year road map to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

China has continued to purchase Iranian crude despite sanctions.

"We reject actions of interference by others in the affairs of progressive countries including Iran and China," China's foreign minister told reporters after the meeting with Zarif.

"We have stood together in dealing with these interventions and interferences and rejecting them as a major threat to international peace and security and friendly relations among countries."

Trump's policy of applying "maximum pressure" on Tehran via crippling sanctions has been criticised by European powers and China and is seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

In July, the US government imposed heavy sanctions seeking to hamper Zarif's travel, and effectively banning him from the United States.

Zarif tweeted that he was heading to Japan and Malaysia in the next leg of his Asian tour without offering details.

Photo: Javad Zarif Twitter

Trump Switches Tone on Iran, Raising Hopes at G7

By Sebastian Smith, Adam Plowright and Stuart Williams

US President Donald Trump said Monday that he had agreed to the Iranian foreign minister flying in for a G7 summit and insisted he was not seeking regime change in Tehran—a change of tone that could lower tensions.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise appearance at the summit in Biarritz on Sunday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a deal between Iran and the United States.

Zarif also met with French and other European diplomats, but Trump said it was "too soon" for him to meet Zarif.

"I knew everything he (Macron) was doing and I approved everything he was doing," Trump said, adding that the French president "asked for my approval.”

In early August, Trump lambasted Macron for sending "mixed signals" on Iran, and at the end of July the US administration imposed sanctions on Zarif.

Trump has put in place a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme via crippling sanctions that are seen as raising the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

The US president unilaterally pulled out of a landmark 2015 international deal that placed limits on Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for trade, investment and sanctions relief.

"I believe that for our country's national interests we must use any tool," Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said of his top diplomat's Biarritz visit in a speech aired live on state television on Monday.

But hardliners criticised the initiative, with the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper saying the trip was "improper" and sent "a message of weakness and desperation."

Some analysts also cautioned against optimism about Macron's mediation efforts.

"There is considerable room between what President Trump says and what he thinks one day, and what he says and thinks the next," Robert Malley, head of the International Crisis Group, told AFP.

Photo: Elysée

Iran Foreign Minister Makes Surprise Visit to G7 Summit

By Helene Fouquet and Josh Wingrove

Emmanuel Macron has thrown his G-7 guests a mid-summit curveball—inviting Iran’s foreign minister for a surprise visit in a move that risks infuriating Donald Trump’s administration.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew to Biarritz, the French seaside resort town that’s the site of the summit, on Sunday as leaders met nearby. The French government insisted he wasn’t in the town to join the G-7, but instead to meet nearby with the French foreign minister as part of a bid by Macron to deescalate the crisis.

Still, the arrival came as a stunning development, and several delegations appear to have been caught off-guard—the Americans and Canadians declined to say if they had advance notice, while the Italians found out from French news wire AFP. Iran already has dominated the discussions at the G-7, with Macron and Trump sparring over Macron’s outreach to the Islamic Republic.

Zarif was in Paris only last week, meeting with Macron about the future of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Zarif described the talks as “constructive and good”, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

Zarif is a lightning rod for the Trump administration, which sanctioned him personally just recently and heavily restricted his movements during a recent visit to New York. Macron had wanted to shake up the summit, and he has already angered the American side, which accused him of trying to manipulate the agenda to embarrass Trump.

The French president is trying to show that he’s achieved something on the geopolitical issues he’s raised, and he has led the European effort to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, after Trump pulled out in 2018. Macron told TF1 television Sunday that leaders agreed they need to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons and destabilizing the region -- though that was the state of play before talks began.

Macron also touted an agreement to send a joint message from the G-7 to Iran as one of his victories from a dinner among the leaders. "We’ve enacted a common communication, which in my view has a lot of value,” he said this morning in a French television interview.

But Trump immediately pushed back on the idea that Macron was speaking for the whole G-7, and therefore Trump as well. “We’ll do our own outreach,” he said. “But I can’t stop people from talking.”

One person familiar with the situation says Trump does not agree that Macron can convey a message from the G-7 to Iran since the leaders didn’t all settle on what the message should be.

Trump has pursued a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, using sanctions to cut off their sales of oil in a way that’s hurting that nation’s economy. White House officials say the G-7 countries agreed Trump’s pressure campaign on Iran is having an impact, and that it should continue.

Photo: IRNA

Trump Unlikely to Support Macron’s Plan to Revive Iran Deal

By Helene Fouquet and Nick Wadhams

French President Emmanuel Macron pitched U.S. President Donald Trump on a plan to end the standoff over the Iran nuclear deal—by allowing Iran to sell oil for a limited period of time in exchange for returning to talks and to compliance with the agreement.

The proposal was described by a French official after Macron and Trump sat down to an impromptu lunch that stretched for two hours at the Group of Seven Summit in Biarritz, France. A senior U.S. official termed the plan a non-starter.

The U.S. in the past has resisted any compromise that allowed Iran to resume selling oil, which is sharply restricted by U.S. sanctions. That’s why ending the impasse and putting the deal back together is so difficult: Iran’s No. 1 demand to come back to the bargaining table is that it be allowed to sell oil to help its struggling economy.

The French official described a plan that would occur in two phases. Iran would be allowed to sell some volume of its oil in exchange for a series of commitments: return to compliance with the existing agreement, find ways to lower tensions in the Persian Gulf amid a spate of tanker seizures, and return to structured talks on missiles, regional issues and what happens after 2025, when the current agreement is set to expire.

The hope, this official said, is that this could create a de-escalation that allows the two sides to begin talking again, particularly knowing that both Trump and the Iranians have said they don’t want war. Macron met with an Iranian delegation on Friday, including Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, to discuss this proposal.

Trump pulled out of the deal in May 2018, saying it didn’t do enough to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Iran remained in compliance with the deal for a time, but recently said it was enriching uranium at higher levels than allowed in the deal—meaning it’s no longer in line with the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Macron has led a European effort to find a compromise that would get Trump back to the table with the Iranians. One struggle has been finding incentives for Iran to renegotiate a deal that took effect so recently, this time surely at worse terms for Iran.

Salvaging the Iran nuclear accord is one of the key topics of the summit at this beach resort town, which sees Trump in his customary role as the outlier to the European nations that still think the deal can be saved. Another potential stumbling block to compromise in Biarritz: Trump brought with him national security adviser John Bolton, the leading Iran hawk in his administration.

Photo: Wikicommons

Europe Has Dug In Against Trump’s Iran ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign

By Nick Wadhams

President Donald Trump wants America’s closest allies to ratchet up the pressure on Iran. But this weekend in France he’ll find they’re still reluctant to join him.

Divisions over Iran will be on full display when Trump meets his European peers at a Group of Seven meeting starting Saturday in the coastal city of Biarritz. While the agenda will focus on the global economy, the most pressing security challenge will be navigating the wreckage of Trump’s decision last year to abandon the 2015 deal constraining Tehran’s nuclear program.

Even with Iran downing an American drone and being accused of a spate of tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf, European nations want to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action they say kept a rein on Iran’s nuclear program. But they’ve failed to find a way to help Tehran get the economic benefits promised under the deal. Iran is desperate to get its oil back on world markets, but that’s a non-starter for the U.S.

No compromise has emerged.

The Iran debate—and the distrust it has fueled—reflects the strains between the U.S. and Europe in the Trump era: displeasure over his maximalist approach, umbrage over his scorn for allies and, beneath it all, wariness about his intentions. In the case of Iran, allies can’t shake the suspicion that Trump, or his more hawkish advisers, want to provoke a war, no matter his insistence otherwise.

“I’ve heard several folks in Europe say, ‘Look, all of us were serving as diplomats during the Iraq War, so we’ve seen the beginnings of this movie before and we’re not going to get dragged into it again,”’ said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The Europeans will not want to side with the administration on issues that could lead to military conflict.”

The president hasn’t laid the groundwork for a productive summit. He’s arriving in France on the warpath over trade, allied contributions to NATO and a self-inflicted feud with Denmark over what appeared at first to be a joke: a suggestion the U.S. buy Greenland.

Trump’s best shot at winning some European support will come by working his personal rapport with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The two unconventional leaders will meet for breakfast on Sunday, and Johnson may want to straddle European backing for the JCPOA with the need to keep Trump on his side for an eventual trade deal following Brexit.

A U.S. official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said the administration is “optimistic” that Johnson could bring the U.K. closer to the U.S. position on isolating Iran.

A U.K. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pushed back on expectations that Johnson could be swayed. The new prime minister doesn’t want to rock the boat for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is the host of the G-7, the official said. The U.K. is sticking to its support for the nuclear deal.

But that too has its dangers. One person familiar with the White House thinking on the matter, who also asked not to be identified, said the administration realizes it needs to be careful calibrating its attitude toward Johnson, who may be wary of being seen as too close to Trump ahead of a possible election later this year.

“The president wants to give Boris Johnson a big boost -- he sees Johnson as Britain’s Trump, a like-minded model,” said Heather Conley, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “The challenge is Boris Johnson is winding up for an election and he’s got to walk a very fine line on what the domestic instinct is toward Trump.”

U.S. officials are playing down the disagreements between Washington and European capitals, arguing that all sides agree on the threat posed by Iran’s sponsorship of terrorist groups, its development of ballistic missiles and its attacks on tanker traffic around the Strait of Hormuz.

‘Tactical Disagreements’

“We have had tactical disagreements but there isn’t any disagreement on end states,” Brian Hook, the State Department’s Iran envoy, told Bloomberg TV on Aug. 21. “We share the same threat assessment. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the principle driver of instability in today’s Middle East.”

Anxiety is growing in Europe about a growing list of Iranian violations of the 2015 nuclear accord, which the Islamic Republic had obeyed until Trump quit the deal. Angry that the Europeans haven’t been able to deliver economic benefits in defiance of Trump’s sanctions, Iran now has exceeded enriched-uranium limits set by the agreement and is threatening further violations if Europe doesn’t find a way around the American restrictions.

Zarif’s Diplomacy

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif—who was recently sanctioned by the U.S.—will be in France ahead of the summit on Friday to urge the Europeans to stick to the nuclear deal.

According to press reports and a person familiar with Emmanuel Macron’s thinking, the French president is also circulating a proposal under which the U.S. would ease some restrictions on Iranian oil exports in exchange for the start of a diplomatic dialogue.

U.S. officials say Iran would need to make far bigger concessions for them to entertain such an offer. The idea flies in the face of the administration’s approach, which is to keep ramping up its “maximum pressure” campaign, under the belief that sanctions will so ruin Iran’s economy that its leaders will have no choice but to negotiate.

Two recent cases show just how different the U.S. and European approaches to Iran have become, and how wary U.S. allies are in being associated with the Trump administration’s stance.

Gibraltar Court

The U.K. rebuffed a demand from the White House to keep holding an Iranian oil tanker laden with $130 million in crude allegedly bound for Syria in Gibraltar. A court in the territory deemed it could no longer keep the ship after Iran offered assurances it wouldn’t go to Syria.

Senior U.S. officials had conveyed “grave disappointment” over the decision to let the tanker go, even raising the possibility that an eventual U.S.-U.K. trade deal might be in jeopardy. The Justice Department filed a complaint aimed at blocking the ruling. But the Grace 1—renamed the Adrian Darya 1—left as planned.

Even more embarrassing to the U.S. has been Europe’s shunning of the plan the Americans call Project Sentinel—a bid to protect ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. In July, the U.K. signed up but was careful to portray its participation as a European-led initiative that was getting help from—and not being led by—the U.S. France and Germany flatly refused to join, leaving the U.S. with two partners: Australia and the U.A.E.

“It’s absolutely necessary to keep the Gulf open, but the fact that they won’t do it tells you something about how toxic President Trump is in European politics,” said Nicholas Burns, a former senior State Department official and professor at the Harvard Kennedy School. “The Europeans don’t trust that Trump will keep his word that he won’t attack Iran.”

Photo: White House

Macron Meets Iran FM to Push for G7 Detente

By Valérie Leroux

French President Emmanuel Macron was to hold talks Friday with Iran's foreign minister ahead of a G7 meeting where he will attempt to soothe tensions between Tehran and Washington at what risks being a stormy summit.

"We're at a critical moment," Macron warned on Wednesday, acknowledging that Iran is "laying out a strategy for exiting the JCPOA," the name of the 2015 accord reining in the country's nuclear ambitions.

He admitted this week there were "true disagreements" over Iran within the G7 club of rich nations, which are meeting in France this weekend.

But Macron said he would "try to propose things" in the talks with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday.

Tensions have soared in recent months over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, with both Tehran and Washington claiming to have shot down rival drones in the Mideast.

Iran has also locked horns with Britain, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards seizing a British tanker in July after Britain detained an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar.

France has stepped up its outreach to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, with Macron twice dispatching his diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne to Tehran in recent months.

"President Rouhani instructed me to go and meet with President Macron (to see) whether we can finalise some of these proposals in order to be able to have everybody comply with their obligations under the JCPOA," Zarif said in Norway on Thursday.

"It's an opportunity to review the proposal by President Macron and to present the views of President Rouhani and see if we can find more common ground. We already have some common ground."

But the nuclear deal has all but collapsed after US President Donald Trump pulled the US out unilaterally in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions that have wreaked havoc on the Iranian economy.

The European signatories vowed to find a workaround and have implored Tehran to respect the deal nonetheless.

But in July, it announced its nuclear programme would no longer be bound by some of the deal's key restrictions.

"They can be reversed as soon as Europe comes into compliance with its own obligations under the JCPOA," Zarif said Thursday.

Maximum Pressure

Macron's diplomacy is a delicate task, with France seeking a rollback on some of the US measures imposed on Iran as part of Trump's "maximum pressure" policy towards the Islamic republic.

French diplomats have raised the idea of US waivers on sanctions affecting Iranian oil exports to India and China, or a new credit line for Tehran that could help the struggling economy.

US President Donald Trump has accused Macron of sending Tehran "mixed signals", a charge rejected by the French government, which says its role is "to make every effort to ensure that all parties agree to a break and open negotiations."

On a host of issues, G7 members France, the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan find themselves at loggerheads, upending what used to be a cosy club of rich nations.

Trump left the last summit in Quebec in June 2018 accusing his host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, of being "very dishonest and weak".

The US leader is set to arrive for the French summit in the town of Biarritz on Saturday already riled by a new French law that will increase taxes on US internet giants such as Google and Facebook.

Trump is also threatening tariffs on the European automobile sector, while the climate change sceptic is not expected to contribute to Macron's official agenda of fighting global warming.

The fierce fires devouring thousands of acres in the Brazil's Amazon rainforest could spark further disputes, with both Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the crisis demands a collective G7 response.

That garnered a furious response from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro—often called "South America's Trump"—who denounced any such G7 talks on the fires a display as "colonialist mentality."

Faced with the multiple G7 divisions, French officials have scrapped the idea of a final joint statement -- seen as an admission of the summit's lowered ambitions.

Photo: Wikicommons

Macron to Host Iran Top Diplomat for Nuclear Talks Friday

President Emmanuel Macron will on Friday hold talks on Iran's contested nuclear program with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the French presidency said, in a rare encounter between a Western head of state and a senior Iranian official.

Macron will meet Zarif just one day before France chairs a three-day summit of leaders of Group of Seven (G7) countries, including President Donald Trump, in the southern resort of Biarritz.

Zarif, who has been on a tour of Scandinavia, had earlier this week said he planned to hold talks in Paris.

The discussions between Zarif and Macron will come at a critical time for relations between Tehran and the West as Iran ramps up its nuclear programme in response to Trump's decision to pull out of the 2015 deal over its atomic drive.

France and other EU powers have insisted they want to keep the nuclear deal alive, although many analysts warn the US pullout dealt it a near-fatal blow.

Macron has insisted that diplomacy is the only way to solve the standoff and twice in the last months despatched his diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne to Tehran.

A presidential official, who asked not to be named, said the talks would continue this channel.

Macron admitted in comments Wednesday there were "true disagreements" within the G7 over Iran but said he would "try to propose things" in the talks.

The French foreign ministry said earlier this month that it "needs no permission" to talk to Iran after Trump accused Macron of sending "mixed signals" to the Islamic Republic.

Zarif said in Norway Thursday that Macron had made proposals to President Hassan Rouhani who had despatched him to Paris "to see if we can finalise some of these ideas so each party can fulfil its obligations" under the nuclear deal.

"It will be a chance to see if we can find ground for understanding. We already have points of agreement," Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister, a suave fluent English speaker, was earlier this month slapped with sanctions by the United States. But the EU insisted it would continue to work with him.

Zarif's talks in Paris may also see the case raised of French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah who was detained in Iran earlier this year and is one of many Western-Iranian dual nationals to be held behind bars there.

Photo: IRNA

US Urges UN to Extend Iran Arms Embargo, Travel Ban

The US urged the United Nations Tuesday to extend an arms embargo on Tehran that is due to expire next year as part of the embattled Iran nuclear deal.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the UN Security Council that the clock was ticking on a resolution restricting weapons sales to Iran that is due to end in October 2020.

Pompeo warned that the expiration of provisions in Security Council Resolution 2231 would also see a travel ban on a key Iranian commander lifted.

"Time is drawing short to continue this activity of restricting Iran's capacity to foment its terror regime," he said.

"The international community will have plenty of time to see how long it has until Iran is unshackled to create new turmoil, and figure out what it must do to prevent that from happening," Pompeo added.

The resolution was passed as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal which the US, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain agreed with Tehran in 2015.

The landmark deal was designed to curb Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the deal last year and reinstated economic sanctions, sending tensions between Washington and Tehran soaring.

When the resolution expires next year, travel restrictions on Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Quds Force, which operates abroad, and 23 other Iranians will be lifted.

"We believe that the UNSC has an important role to play to ensure that the arms embargo and the travel ban are continued," Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran told reporters in New York ahead of Pompeo's remarks.

Trump's administration is currently pursuing a "maximum pressure" campaign designed to force the Islamic republic to limit its nuclear programme and military activities.

Iran has responded by suspending some of its commitments under the nuclear deal.

The situation has threatened to spiral out of control with ships attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized.

Meanwhile, the US has been struggling to piece together an international coalition to protect cargo ships travelling through the Gulf.

Allies are concerned about being dragged into conflict with Iran while European countries are trying to keep the nuclear deal alive.

Photo: Wikicommons

U.S. Sanctions Are Forcing Iran to Ditch Push to Cleaner Fuels

By Verity Ratcliffe

Iran is about to burn a lot more fuel oil as a result of U.S. sanctions and new global shipping rules, reversing the nation’s progress in switching to cleaner-burning natural gas.

Power plants and other industrial facilities will burn more than 200,000 barrels a day of highly polluting fuel oil next year, double the amount Iran used in 2018, according to a forecast by Iain Mowat of consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.

Iran produces a surplus of fuel oil, and the excess has swelled since the U.S. began restricting the OPEC member’s exports last year. Sanctions also prevent Iran from importing the equipment it would need to refine the heavy oil product into less-polluting products like gasoline and, even if they find a way building refineries takes time.

The situation will only worsen once the International Maritime Organization restricts the use of high-sulfur fuel oil for most vessels starting Jan. 1. Commercial ships and power stations are the two main sources of demand for fuel oil. By curbing the shipping industry’s appetite, the UN agency’s new measure will leave Iran little choice but to burn more fuel oil at home to generate electricity.

Iranians “will have no choice but to dump it at whatever low price they can get for it, cut back on refining or use it themselves,” said Robin Mills, chief executive officer of Dubai-based consultant Qamar Energy. Since anyone buying Iranian fuel oil would run afoul of U.S. sanctions, even rock-bottom prices might not be enough to stimulate sales, he said.

Iran is a prime candidate for flouting the next year’s new IMO rules by using high-sulfur fuel oil in its own fleet, Mills said. International ports, however, have arranged for harsh penalties for violators.

Iran’s government says it wants to build new refineries to process fuel oil into other products. Although refineries typically take four years to complete, Tehran is hoping for faster results, said Sakineh Almasi, a spokeswoman for the parliamentary energy commission, according to the parliament’s Icana news service. Almasi didn’t say how the government plans to work around U.S. sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran’s storage facilities for oil and fuel are filling up fast. Because the government prefers to reserve precious spare storage capacity for higher-value products such as condensate, it can’t accumulate surplus fuel oil for long, Mills said.

Iran’s use of fuel oil to produce electricity peaked in 2013 and has since fallen sharply as the country’s power plants switched to cleaner-burning natural gas. In the Iranian year ending in March 2018, they consumed about a quarter of the fuel oil they burned four years earlier, according to state-owned Thermal Power Plants Holding Co. A TPPH representative wasn’t immediately available to comment on the outlook for future consumption.

The resurgence in Iranian fuel-oil demand threatens to make the country’s notorious air pollution even worse. Fuel oil contains much more sulfur than natural gas does. Power plants emit these pollutants, blamed for causing acid rain and contributing to human health conditions such as asthma and even lung cancer.

Photo: Tasnim

Iran Warns U.S. Against Seizing Oil Tanker Headed to Greece

By Arsalan Shahla, Verity Ratcliffe and Brian Wingfield

Iran warned the U.S. against apprehending a supertanker carrying the Middle East country’s oil and said it couldn’t be clear on the ship’s ultimate destination, leaving the fate of the vessel uncertain as it sailed into the Mediterranean Sea from Gibraltar, where it had been detained.

The tanker, formerly called the Grace 1 and re-named the Adrian Darya 1, was signaling Kalamata, Greece—at least for now—with an arrival date of Aug. 26, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg at 5:25 p.m. London time. It had previously been showing an arrival date of Aug. 25.

The vessel left Gibraltar Sunday night after being detained there since early July, when British forces seized it on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria in violation of European sanctions. The U.S., which has sanctions against Iran, is seeking to prevent anyone from doing business with the ship.

U.S. sanctions mean Iran cannot be “very transparent” about the destination of the tanker, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said at a press conference in Helsinki. He said the U.S. is trying to “bully others from purchasing our oil” and that he hopes the release of the vessel will de-escalate tensions in the Persian Gulf.

A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident is one of several in recent months that have strained relations between Iran and the West, following the U.S. reinstatement of sanctions on the Islamic Republic last year. Iran has maintained that the ship’s original detention on July 4 was unlawful. The Persian Gulf state continues to hold a U.K.-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero. Aggression in the region has threatened shipping in recent months in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical waterway for oil supplies.

“The U.S. surely can’t seize the Iranian tanker and, if it does, it would pose a threat to international maritime security,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said. Iran warned the U.S. via “diplomatic channels,” including Switzerland, against interfering with the tanker, in international waters, Mousavi said at a news conference in Tehran. Swiss diplomats serve as interlocutors between the U.S. and Iran.

Destination Unclear

It’s not known where the Iranian vessel is ultimately headed. Greek authorities haven’t received formal notification that the vessel intends to head to a port in the country, according to a spokesman for Greece’s coast guard. Kalamata’s port usually serves pleasure craft like sailboats and cruise ships, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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. A ship’s destination is entered manually into its Automatic Identification System and is picked up by vessel-tracking. The destinations can be altered multiple times on the same journey.

Gibraltar rejected an attempt by the U.S. to block the Iranian supertanker, saying that EU regulations don’t allow it to seek a court order to detain the vessel.

U.S. Complaint

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.

Gibraltar last week released the vessel, after the government said Iran had provided assurances that the ship would not sail to a destination sanctioned by the EU. In response, the U.S. said it was gravely disappointed with Britain, 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.

Photo: IRNA

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

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