- Title: Iran tanker may leave Gibraltar on Friday, U.S. legal bid still looms
- Date: 16th August 2019
- Summary: OFF GIBRALTAR (AUGUST 16, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OIL TANKER GRACE 1 LYING ANCHORED OFF THE GIBRALTAR COAST BOAT SAILING PAST GRACE 1 GRACE 1 LYING ANCHORED VARIOUS OF SMALL VESSEL SAILING AND GRACE 1 IN THE BACKGROUND GRACE 1 TANKER
- Embargoed: 30th August 2019 10:20
- Keywords: Iranian tanker Grace 1 Gibraltar United Kingdom
- Location: OFF GIBRALTAR
- City: OFF GIBRALTAR
- Country: Gibraltar
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001ASGWU2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An Iranian tanker whose detention exacerbated frictions between Tehran and the West could sail free from British territory Gibraltar on Friday (August 16), though a U.S. request to halt its passage could drag the saga back into court.
The Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marine commandos in darkness at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a close ally of Iran.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo decided to lift the detention order after written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its oil in Syria.
But the fate of the ship has since been complicated by a last-minute legal bid by the United States to hold it.
Two weeks after the Grace 1 was held, Iran seized a British- flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf. That fed into wider hostilities since the United States last year pulled out of an international agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program and reimposed economic sanctions.
Iran has made no commitments to gain the release of its tanker from detention in Gibraltar, an Iranian government spokesman was quoted as saying on Friday, reiterating that Grace 1 was never bound for Syria as alleged by its captors.
(Production: Marco Trujillo, Miguel Gutierrez, Silvio Castellanos) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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