"Release of Iranian Tanker Unfortunate, Warns against Helping Vessel: US

“It was unfortunate an Iranian oil tanker detained off Gibraltar had been allowed to leave,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, Reuters reported.

“It’s unfortunate that that happened,” Pompeo told Fox News Channel. He added that if Iran is successful in making profit from the tanker’s oil cargo, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will have “more money, more wealth, more resources to continue their terror campaign.”

The Iranian tanker at the center of an angry confrontation between Iran and Washington sailed for Greece on Monday after it was freed from detention off Gibraltar, hence Washington called the release unfortunate and warned Greece and Mediterranean ports against helping the vessel.

A U.S. State Department official said Washington had conveyed its “strong position” to the Greek government, as well as to all ports in the Mediterranean about facilitating the tanker.

The official said assisting the ship could be considered providing support to a terrorist organization.

On the other hand, Tehran said any U.S. move to seize the vessel again would have “heavy consequences”. While Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif appeared to downplay the possibility of military conflict with Washington in an interview on U.S. television, he also indicated on a visit to Finland that Washington was seeking “more escalation”.

Zarif said in Finland: “We are happy this ordeal has ended and I hope this will lead to less escalation.”

He also said the U.S. warrant had no legal basis and was politically motivated to “make more escalation.”

But in an interview with “NBC Nightly News,” Zarif said Iran would not take military action to end its standoff with its longtime adversary.

“We will not. We have never done that, in the past 250 years. We have defended ourselves. And we have taught good lessons to those who invaded us,” Zarif said.

He also appeared to downplay the possibility of U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic in the interview, saying the U.S. habit of saying: “No option is off the table” in its approach to Iran was a violation of the U.N. Charter.

The Grace 1, renamed the Adrian Darya 1, left anchorage off Gibraltar about 11 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Sunday. Refinitiv ship tracking data showed on Monday that the vessel was heading to Kalamata in Greece and was scheduled to arrive next Sunday at 0000 GMT.

The seizure of the tanker by British Royal Marines near Gibraltar in July 4 on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions led to a weeks-long confrontation between Tehran and the West. It also heightened tensions on international oil shipping routes through the Gulf.

Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, lifted the detention order on Thursday. But the next day, a federal court in Washington issued a warrant for the seizure of the tanker, the oil it carries and nearly $1 million.

Gibraltar said on Sunday it could not comply with that request because it was bound by EU law. Washington wanted to detain the tanker on the grounds that it had links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it has designated a terrorist organization.