Iran: Britain might release Grace 1 tanker soon
Iran said on Tuesday that Britain might free its oil
tanker Grace 1 soon, after some documents were exchanged that would help the
seized ship’s release.
“Britain is interested in releasing Iran’s oil
tanker Grace 1 ... following the exchange of some documents, we hope the
release will take place soon,” the deputy head of Iran’s ports and Maritime
Organisation, Jalil Eslami, said in remarks reported by IRNA news agency.
Gibraltar said on Tuesday it was seeking to
de-escalate tensions arising with Iran since the detention of the Grace 1
tanker.
“We continue to seek to de-escalate issues arising
since the lawful detention of Grace 1,” a spokesman for Gibraltar said. The
current detention order on the vessel expires on Saturday night, the spokesman
said.
British Royal Marines seized the Iranian oil tanker
on July 4 off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on
suspicion of violating EU sanctions by taking oil to Syria, which Iran denies.
“The vessel was seized based on false allegations
...it has not been freed yet,” Eslami said.
Two weeks after the capture of the Iranian tanker,
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized a British tanker, Stena Impero, near the
Strait of Hormuz, accusing it of marine violations. Britain considers that
action to have been illegal retaliation.
