Gibraltar says Iran tanker can leave when ready, US legal block still looms
An Iranian tanker detained in Gibraltar for
breaching EU sanctions could be allowed to leave on Friday, though a last
minute US legal bid to halt it could yet end up back in court, the territory’s
first minister said.
Gibraltar decided on Thursday to free the tanker,
but did not immediately indicate when or if the ship would set sail after the
United States launched a last-minute legal bid to hold it.
“She is able to leave as soon as she organizes the
logistics necessary in order to sail a ship of that size wherever it’s going
next,” Fabian Picardo told BBC Radio. “Could be today, could be tomorrow.”
Asked about the US request, he said: “Those will be
determinations made purely objectively and independently by those authorities
and then subject to once again the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of
Gibraltar. It could go back to the court absolutely.”
The chief minister added that he expects Iran to act
in keeping with what it has said and that he doubts the tanker will end up in
Syria.
