Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

US Makes Last Bid to Seize Grace 1


Sat 17 Aug 2019 | 04:20 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

In a last bid to halt the release of Iranian supertanker ‘Grace 1’, United States has issued a warrant to seize the ship held by Gibraltar authorities since July 4th, in the standoff between Tehran and the West.

The Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marines at the Mediterranean on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria. Yesterday, a court ordered the release of the vessel, denying, at the same time, a request of the US ministry of Justice to keep the ship seized.

Gibraltar lifted the detention order after the British territory's chief minister said he had secured written assurances from Tehran that the cargo would not go to Syria.

According to Reuters, the United States launched a separate legal appeal to impound the ship on the grounds that it had links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it designates as a terrorist organization.

A federal court in Washington issued a warrant to seize the tanker, the oil it carries and nearly $1 million (£823,113).

"A network of front companies allegedly laundered millions of dollars in support of such shipments," the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu, said in a news release.

"The scheme involves multiple parties affiliated with the IRGC and furthered by the deceptive voyages of the Grace 1."

The Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper reported that the vessel was unlikely to sail before Sunday, citing an unnamed source who added that it was waiting for six new crew members including a captain to arrive.

The Grace 1 had its name erased and it was no longer flying a Panama flag.

In Tehran, Iranian state television had quoted Jalil Eslami, deputy head of the country's Ports and Maritime Organisation, as saying the tanker would depart for the Mediterranean after being reflagged under the Iranian flag and renamed Adrian Darya.