Iran warns US against seizing its supertanker as it heads for Greece
- US wants to detain the tanker on the grounds that it had links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
- Tehran says any seizure attempt would have heavy consequences
An Iranian supertanker with US$130 million worth of light crude oil that the US suspects is tied to a sanctioned organisation has left Gibraltar and was heading Monday east into the Mediterranean Sea, with its next destination reported to be Greece.
The Iran-flagged Adrian Darya 1, previously named Grace 1, set course for Kalamata, Greece, with an estimated arrival on August 25, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the tanker would be heading there or whether the destination could change.
Greek authorities had no immediate comment on the situation.
The vessel left Gibraltar late on Sunday after having been detained for a month in the British overseas territory for allegedly attempting to breach European Union sanctions on Syria.
Gibraltar authorities rejected attempts by the US to seize the oil tanker again, arguing that EU regulations are less strict than US sanctions on Iran.