An Iranian tanker Grace 1 ( Adrian Darya 1, now) released after being detained for one and a half months by the British overseas territory of Gibraltar is now heading for Lebanon, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.
“This tanker is not heading actually to Iskenderun (in Turkey), this tanker is heading to Lebanon,” Cavusoglu said during a visit to Oslo, referring to the Adrian Darya 1 tanker.
The minister did not mention whether Lebanon was the tanker’s final destination or not. Later, the Lebanese minister denied the Ankara’s claim of receiving any docking proposal for an Iranian vessel.
“We still buy gas from Iran, but we don’t buy oil,” he stressed, mentioning that Turkey was monitoring the vessel’s status “very closely.”
The Adrian Darya 1 set sail three days later for the eastern Mediterranean, carrying 2.1 million barrels of oil worth more than $140 million. Iran revealed on Monday it had sold the oil, but did not mention the buyer.
The tension between the US and Iran escalated after the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker, Grace 1 by officials in Gibraltar, accompanied by British Royal Marines. British Royal Marines in Gibraltar grid around an Iranian ship believed to have been carrying oil to Syria, which is, according to authorities is a violation of European Union sanctions on Syria.
After 6 weeks of detention, the Gibraltar court decided to release the tanker after Iran’s written guarantee that the Grace 1 would not be sailing to countries on the European Union sanctions list, after departing from the port.
Washington had attempted to extend the detention period of Grace 1 on the basis of having its links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it has declared a terrorist organization.
Relevant: Gibraltar releases Grace 1, neglecting US’ call to extend detention
Gibraltar officials said a last-minute appeal from the US to extend the detention period was not considered an official request before the Supreme Court, so they went forward with the decision to release the vessel.