Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized Adrian Darya 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran, however, rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “piracy.”

Right after the illegal seizure, Bolton praised Britain’s move in a tweet, saying, “Excellent news: UK has detained the supertanker Grace I laden with Iranian oil bound for Syria in violation of EU sanctions.”

The Iranian oil tanker, previously called Grace 1, left Gibraltar last week after the Gibraltar government released it despite pressure from the US for the vessel’s continued detainment.

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The tanker’s estimated time of arrival in Mersin is reportedly noon on Aug. 31.

The tanker was impounded off Gibaltrar in July and released over a month later when local authorities rejected a US bid to detain the ship.

Greek Shipping Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis said on August 20 that Greek authorities have not received any formal request from the the tanker to dock at the port of Kalamata.

Despite all US pressures and requests, Gibraltar government eventually ordered the release of the illegally-detained tanker last Sunday .

Iran’s Ambassador to London Hamid Baeidinejad wrote on Twitter that the act of having the Iranian oil tanker renamed is in no relation with skirting the US sanctions, since the tanker is not sanctioned and sails under the aegis of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized the vessel and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “piracy.”

The post ‘Adrian Darya 1’ tanker heading to Turkey: report appeared first on Iran News Daily.