The United States blacklisted an Iranian Oil Vessel amid tensions in Gulf and Major diplomatic dispute with Tehran, claiming it had “reliable information” the ship was transporting oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
In a statement issued on Friday, the US Treasury Department state Adrian Darya 1 was “blocked property” and “anyone providing support” to the tanker risked being sanctioned.
The tension between the US and Iran escalated when previously known as Grace 1, the tanker was seized by British officials in Gibraltar, accompanied by British Royal Marines, 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 Iranian vessel would not be sailing to countries on the European Union sanctions list, after departing from the port.
The release orders of Iranian Vessel were issued, despite Washington’s attempt to extend the detention period of the vessel on the basis of having its links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it has declared a terrorist organization.
Iran later denied it made any promises about the ship’s destination. Iran revealed on Monday it had sold the oil, but did not mention the buyer.
Relevant: Iran sells 2.1 million barrels of Crude oil on board Grace
Since its release from Gibraltar, the Adrian Darya 1 has been roaming around the Mediterranean, it’s every turn followed with deep speculation. The vessel was sailing in waters north of Cyprus as of 10:30 GMT on Saturday, according to the MarineTraffic tracking website.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had “reliable information” the tanker was headed to the Syrian port of Tartus.
“I hope it changes course,” Pompeo said in a tweet.
“It was a big mistake to trust Zarif,” he added, referring to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, who had given assurances to the UK that the vessel would not sail to Syria.
