The US has blacklisted the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya
The US has blacklisted the Iranian tanker Adrian Darya, stating that it has the “credible data” that it is carrying oil to Syria despite widespread sanctions against the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Previously recognized as Grace 1, British Marines confiscated the ship in July and kept in Gibraltar for six weeks, suspected of providing oil to Tehran’s enemy, Damasco.
The British territory published the ship–amid objections from the United States–after it claimed that it had got written assurances from Iran that the vessel would not depart for nations subject to penalties by the European Union. Tehran subsequently rejected that it had made any commitments.
“We have credible data that the tanker is on its way to Tartus, Syria,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet on Friday.
The US Treasury said the ship was “restricted assets,” under an anti-terrorist order, and “anyone helps Adrian Darya 1 hazards being punished.”
They blacklisted the captain of the ship, Akhilesh Kumar, under the order.
The Adrian Darya has been bouncing around the Mediterranean since its discharge from Gibraltar, followed by every step. As of early Saturday, the vessel was in the waters north of Cyprus, according to the Marine traffic website.
Lebanon has previously rejected Turkish allegations that it would get a vessel with a shipment of 2,1 million barrels valued approximately $140 million.
While Iran has refused to sell oil to Damasco, specialists have argued that the probable situation is a ship-to-ship transfer, with the Syrian port the final destination.
The petroleum issue
Maritime traffic controls have shown that the most recent places mentioned by Adrian Darya, which are not necessarily the next allowed port of call, are in Turkey. After monitoring Mersin as its target, it moved to Iskenderun, causing the Turkish Foreign Minister to react.
“This tanker is not going to Iskenderun, this tanker is going to Lebanon,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Oslo.
Lebanon rejected this situation, stressing that it never purchases crude oil because it does not have refineries, adding that it did not receive any applications from the tanker.
Iran said on Monday that it had “sold the petroleum” on board the tanker and that the proprietor would decide the target. It did not recognize the purchaser or show whether they had purchased the oil before or after the tanker had, we had detained the tanker.
It also claimed that it could not name the real target because of “financial violence” by the US and its sanctions against Iran’s oil exports.
In July, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in Gulf waters. Britain called it a “tit-for-tat” move, but Tehran rejected any link.
Source: The Guardian
