Gibraltar and Iran in war of words over Grace 1 tanker

Fazel Hawramy
Iran and Gibraltar fought a war of words Friday after a Syria-bound Iranian oil tanker was released following its seizure by British forces. 

Iranian government media outlets referred to the release of the Grace 1 as a “humiliation” for the US and UK, and insisted Tehran gave no assurances to Gibraltar the tanker was not heading to Syria, despite reports to the contrary, but secured its release anyway. 

“We reiterated that if the destination of the tanker was indeed Syria, it would not be anyone else’s business,” the spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry Seyyed Abbas Mousavi told reporters on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran would sell its oil to any new or old customer that it wants.” 

The Grace 1 oil tanker carrying two million barrels of oil was seized by Royal Marines at the request of the Gibraltar government on July 4 at a time that Iran was and still is mired in a fierce row with the United States over Washington’s crippling economic sanctions, which were re-imposed last November after the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last year.

The US Department of Justice tried to seize the tanker yesterday, but to no avail. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a 120,000 strong force under the command of the Supreme Leader Ali Khmanei, responded to the detention of the Grace 1 by seizing British flagged tanker Stena Impero on July 19, the fate of which is still not clear.

The Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo had said in a statement on Thursday that Tehran’s “written assurance” on August 13 that if released the destination of Grace 1 would not be an entity subject to European sanctions meant that there was “no longer any reasonable grounds for the continued legal detention of the Grace 1.” 

The EU currently has sanctions on Syria due to the Syrian government’s role in the country’s civil war.

The Gibraltar government said that originally the tanker was clearly heading to Syria, despite Iran’s statements.

“The evidence located aboard the Grace 1 and explicitly referred to in the Legal Notice issued yesterday demonstrates that the vessel was going to Syria,” a spokesperson for the Gibraltar government said in an emailed statement on Friday. “The evidence is clear and the facts speak louder than the self-serving political statements we are hearing today.

Earlier in the day, several Iranian officials denied that Tehran gave any assurances to Gibraltar of the tanker’s destination. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted that the detention was “100% unlawful.” 

 

 

 

 

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei celebrated the Grace 1’s release. 

 

 

 


The US Department of State threatened any individual associated with Grace 1 with being barred entry to the US because the vessel was assisting the IRGC by transporting oil from Iran to Syria. 

“Crewmembers of vessels assisting the IRGC by transporting oil from Iran may be ineligible for visas or admission to the United States under the terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds in Section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” a press statement attributed to Morgan Ortagus, the department’s spokesperson said. “The maritime community should be aware that the U.S. government intends to revoke visas held by members of such crews.” https://www.state.gov/iranian-vessel-grace-i/ 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated the message on Twitter.

 



Meanwhile, the deputy head of Iran's port authority, Jalil Eslami told Iran's state broadcaster on Thursday, "The vessel was under the Panamanian flag when it was detained and then Panama took away its flag during the detention. For this reason and based on the wishes of the owner, the ship is now under the Islamic Republic of Iran flag and the name is changed to Adrian Doria."

Both seizures soured relations between Tehran and London at a time when the remaining members of the Iran nuclear deal, including the UK, are trying to salvage the landmark agreement after the US and Iran withdrew from it.

The US imposed harsh economic sanctions on Iran’s banking, oil, shipping and other sectors and cancelled critical oil waivers given to eight main customers of Iran in early May, which spurred Iran to suspend some of its commitment under the nuclear deal causing fear that the deal would collapse.