Seizer of Iranian tanker Grace1: Gibraltar reject US legal request

The British Overseas Territory’s justice ministry said yesterday that it was “unable to seek” a court order to provide the “restraining assistance required by the US”.

Gibraltar has formally rejected a US legal request to seize the Iranian tanker that has been at the center of a stand-off between Iran and the West.

The Grace1 has been held in Gibraltar since local police and British commandos apprehended the vessel on July 4, because it was suspected to be shipping 2.1m barrels of Iranian light crude oil to Syria in violation of EU sanction.

The decision by UK and Gibraltar increased tensions between Iran and the West and concerns about maritime security in the oil-rich Gulf were heightened last month after Iran seized a British-flagged tanker , Stena Impero.

After the rejection by Gibraltar’s justice ministry the US’ legal move, Washington on Friday sent additional information claiming the supertanker  and its load were controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the elite military force, a designated terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

President Trump has imposed sanctions  on Iran and has vowed to cut its oil exports to zero since he unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015.

“EU Law , does not help in facilitating Gibraltar in giving the US mutual legal assistance” according to a statement by Gibraltar’s authorities.

The Tanker has been renamed and is now flying an Iranian flag, remains in Gibraltar  while a new crew is dispatched to sail the vessel.

However, Iran still holds the Stena Impero and its 23-man crew, which it seized in the Strait of Hormuz the vital Gulf waterway through which about a third of world’s seaborne oil passes.

Earlier, British officials ruled out a barter for the two vessels and said the Grace 1’s fate would be determined by Gibraltar’s courts.