GIBRALTAR: An Iranian flag flutters on board the Adrian Darya oil tanker, formerly known as Grace 1, off the coast of Gibraltar on Sunday. - AFP

TEHRAN: Tehran
said it had warned its arch-foe Washington against attempting to seize an
Iranian tanker, which sailed into international waters yesterday after being
released from Gibraltar. Iran had been locked in a six-week standoff with US
ally Britain since Royal Marines seized the tanker off British territory
Gibraltar, on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions.
Little more than two weeks later, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
impounded the British-flagged Stena Impero tanker in strategic Gulf waters in
what London called a tit-for-tat move.

A Gibraltar court
on Thursday ordered the release of the Grace 1, since renamed the Adrian Darya.
That was in spite of a last-minute US bid to detain the supertanker on
allegations of involvement in supporting illicit shipments to Syria by the
Guards, listed as a terrorist group by Washington. Gibraltar's government
rejected the request, saying it could not seek a court order to detain the ship
because US sanctions against Iran were not applicable in the European Union.

The Adrian Darya
had left Gibraltar and entered international waters yesterday, the deputy head
of Iran's port and marine authority Jalil Eslami said, cited by state news
agency IRNA. Flying the Iranian flag, it was on course for the Greek port of
Kalamata, according to shipping data. But the final destination of the vessel
and its 2.1 million barrels of oil remains unclear, with authorities in Greece
yet to confirm it is expected to dock there.

As the ship
finally sailed eastward, Iran said it had warned the United States through the
Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests, against trying to seize
it again. "Iran has given necessary warnings to American officials through
its official channels... not to make such a mistake because it would have grave
consequences," said foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi.

Speaking at a
news conference, he dismissed the notion of any link between the seizure of the
Iranian tanker off Gibraltar and the British-flagged tanker in the Gulf.
"There is no connection whatsoever between these two vessels," said
Mousavi. "There have been two or three maritime violations made by that
ship," he said, referring to the Stena Impero held off Iran's Bandar
Abbas. "The court is looking into it. We hope the (investigation) is
completed as soon as possible and the verdict is issued."

The spokesman
said the tanker's release was a blow to US "unilateralism". "The
Americans have not been very successful with their unilateral sanctions that
have no legal basis. They should come to their senses that bullying and
unilateralism cannot get anywhere in the world today." Mousavi urged other
countries not to accept sanctions the US has imposed on Iran "because
they're not legitimate and have no legal basis".

Iran's judiciary
chief Ebrahim Raisi called for legal action to be taken against Britain over
the vessel's detention. "Now following the release of the ship, the
Islamic Republic of Iran should seek damages," he told state television.
But despite the tanker's release, Iran still faced a dilemma over its ultimate
destination and that of its oil, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
"The tanker was renamed... but the problem with US sanctions
remains," he told AFP. "I don't see any buyer in the Mediterranean
apart from the sanctioned regime in Syria. Returning to Iran will be difficult
since it would need to make the whole trip around Africa."

Iran's Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was unable to give anything away when asked
during a trip to Finland if the oil would be offloaded in Greece. "Now
because of US sanctions we cannot be very transparent with the destination of
our oil," he told a news conference in Helsinki. In its decision ordering
the tanker's release, Gibraltar said it had received written assurances from
Iran that the ship would not be headed for countries "subject to European
Union sanctions". Iran denied it had made any promises about the ship's
destination to secure the release.

Tensions between
Iran and the United States have been rising since President Donald Trump
unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear deal in May 2018 and began
imposing sanctions against the Islamic republic. Iran has responded to
Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign by suspending some of its
commitments under the nuclear deal. The situation has threatened to spiral out
of control with ships attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized. At the
height of the crisis, Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last
minute in June after its forces shot down a US drone. - AFP