Iran has sold 2.1 million barrels of crude oil on board an Iranian tanker that was detained by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar last month amid tensions in the Gulf.
The announcement on Monday by government spokesman Ali Rabiei disclosed the latest deal regarding the Grace 1 tanker now renamed as ‘Adrian Darya-1, detained in Gibraltar on suspicion of carrying oil to Syria which is the violation European Union sanctions.
The seizure of the ship, followed by Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz as an act of retaliation, came amid escalating tensions between the Washington and Tehran.
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While briefing the media in the capital, Tehran, Rabiei denied disclosing the new oil’s buyer and terms for the sale. At current market rates, the crude oil on board the Grace 1 would be worth about $130 million.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has sold the oil of this ship and now the owner and purchaser of this oil will decide the destination of the cargo,” Rabiei said, as quoted by Iranian media.
“We believe and are sure that the owner of the ship will take it to where it is supposed to go and we are not informed of its final destination,” he said.
The vessel set sail from the British territory of Gibraltar on August 18, after facing more than six weeks of detention, despite a last-minute call by the US to extend the detention.
Relevant: U.S. court issues a warrant for the seizure of an Iranian tanker Grace 1
A US court had put forward a warrant for the extension of the vessel’s detention period and its cargo on the basis of having its links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Washington has designated a “terrorist” organization. But Gibraltar’s government rejected the request and passed the order to release the seized tanker.
Rabiei said the world is “witnessing the wrong policy by the US in monitoring and intervention in others’ internal affairs”.
The tanker is currently in the Mediterranean Sea, south of mainland Greece and west of the island of Crete, according to the shipping data.
On Monday, Iran announced that it had deployed a naval destroyer with cruise missiles to secure and escort Iranian ships in the Gulf Sea.
Iran’s state-run media said the newly deployed destroyer was equipped with long-range cruise missile systems and had been deployed in the Gulf to provide security for the maneuverability of the Iranian ships in the region.
