Iran Press/America: The 'Grace 1' oil tanker was seized by Britain's Royal Marines at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 under the pretext of being suspected of violating European Union unilateral sanctions against Syria by taking oil to the Arab country.
Jessie Liu, a US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said the oil tanker Grace 1, with more than 2 million barrels of oil on board, and $995,000 subject to forfeiture based on a complaint by the US government, is now liable to be seized by the US armed forces, reported Reuters.
Also in its State Department website, the US government had threatened sanctions against ports, banks and anyone else who does business with the Iranian oil supertanker that has just been released by a Gibraltar court ruling.
Washington also had attempted to detain the Grace 1, claiming that it had links to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), which it has designated a terrorist organization.
The Supreme Court in the British territory of Gibraltar approved the release of the Grace 1 on Thursday, 15 August. The supertanker had been seized in international waters off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4.
The release order for the Iranian supertanker is generally seen as a defeat for Washington which had tried desperately to keep the tanker impounded. 101/211/215
Read more:
'Grace 1' release, another defeat of US, another victory for Iran: Gov. Spox.
Gibraltar Chief Minister: Grace 1 could leave on Friday
Gibraltar releases Iranian oil tanker Grace 1
