Iranian tanker leaves Gibraltar after US legal move is rejected

Catogory : Market Report

THE Iranian-controlled crude tanker Grace 1 left Gibraltar late on Sunday evening after the British territory rejected a series of last-minute US requests to further detain the vessel.

The move to allow Grace 1 to depart will raise hopes for the swift release of the 23 crew of the Gibraltar-flagged, Swedish-owned product tanker Stena Impero, which was taken by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in retaliation for the Grace 1 detention.

Lodged on Saturday. But on Sunday, the Gibraltar government released a statement saying the US request for mutual legal assistance for its Supreme Court to provide “restraining assistance” was refused. The unilateral US sanctions did not constitute offences in Gibraltar and there were no equivalent sanctions in Europe.

“The EU sanctions regime against Iran — which is applicable in Gibraltar — is much narrower than that applicable in the US,’’ Gibraltar said in a statement. The decision firmly aligns Gibraltar with the European Union, which has supported the Iran nuclear deal from which the US which withdrew in May 2018, in turn re-imposing punitive sanctions on the Islamic republic’s oil and shipping sectors from November. The very large crude carrier was impounded by Gibraltar with the help of Royal Marines on July 4 as it entered its territorial waters to receive supplies. The vessel with its cargo of 2m barrels of Iranian oil was on its way to a refinery in Syria, in breach of EU sanctions. The US sought information about Grace 1 and its cargo under mutual legal assistance provisions on August 14. That was day before the Gibraltar Supreme Court decision on whether to extend the tanker’s 30-day detention, due to expire on August 18.