Iranian tanker Adrian Darya reaches destination, oil sold

Dubai-Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday said that the Iranian oil tanker, Adrian Darya, at the center of a dispute between Tehran and Western powers, had reached its destination and sold its oil, state television reported.

He added that he hoped that the British tanker seized in the Strait of Hormuz would go through the necessary legal steps and would be released “soon.”

“The (Iranian) tanker has gone to its destination, the oil has been sold,” spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the television station without disclosing whether the crude oil had been delivered.

The vessel Adrian Darya 1, which went dark off Syria last week, has been photographed by satellite off the Syrian port of Tartus.

The tanker, formerly named Grace 1, was detained by British Royal Marine commandos off Gibraltar on July 4 as it was suspected to be en route to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

Two weeks later, Iran in retaliation seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf.

Gibraltar released the Iranian vessel on August 15 after receiving formal written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its 2.1 million barrels of oil in Syria.

However, shipping sources said that the tanker is likely to try to conduct a ship-to-ship transfer with another vessel for part of its cargo after Iran said a sale had been concluded.

Washington warned any state against assisting the ship and said it would consider that support for a terrorist organization, namely, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The US Treasury Department blacklisted the tanker on Friday.

Reuters