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Spain to lodge complaint over British seizure of oil tanker Ex-military chief urges Iran to seize UK ship in Gibraltar tit-for-tat
(about 4 hours later)
The Spanish government has said it plans to lodge a formal complaint over the British military’s seizure off the coast of Gibraltar of an Iranian supertanker thought to be taking oil to Syria. A former leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has said the Islamic Republic should consider seizing a British oil tanker in response to the UK military detaining an Iranian vessel off the coast of Gibraltar.
“We are studying the circumstances and looking at how this affects our sovereignty,” Josep Borell, Spain’s acting foreign minister, said. Spain considers the sea around Gibraltar to be part of its international waters, while the British regard it as theirs. Mohsen Rezaei, who led the Guard during Iran’s 1980s “tanker war” in the Persian Gulf, made the comments the day after nearly 30 Royal Marines were deployed to impound the oil tanker Grace 1.
According to official reports, British authorities notified Spain that the ship was about to be boarded by Royal Marines on Thursday night and the entire operation was closely watched by a civil guard patrol boat. “If England does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the duty ... [of Iran] is to respond and seize one English oil tanker,” Rezaei said on Friday.
“Spain didn’t want to interfere because the issue was compliance with European Union sanctions,” a Spanish foreign ministry spokesman said. Britain’s Foreign Office said it would not respond to every comment about the incident that emerged from Iran, and reiterated its position that the action came at the request of Gibraltar to halt a vessel believed to be bound for Syria.
Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar’s chief minister, said the tanker was believed to be en route to the Banyas refinery which, he added, “is the property of an entity that is subject to EU sanctions against Syria”. Tehran has been accused of sabotaging oil tankers in the strait of Hormuz in an attempt at economic retaliation against the US after Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal and imposed sanctions on Iran.
The complaint to the UK derives from the fact that the ship, Grace 1, was seized on the open sea and not in the port of Gibraltar. EU sanctions prevent the Syrian regime from importing oil, and Gibraltar said on Thursday that it believed the Grace 1 and its 2m barrels of Iranian oil were bound for the Banyas refinery in Syria.
Borrell also contradicted the British claim that the marines were under the command of the Gibraltar police, alleging that they were acting under US orders. Since then, Gibraltar and Spain have become embroiled in a row about the seizure and its ultimate purpose, with Madrid saying the Grace 1 was intercepted because of a request from the US to the UK.
A British diplomatic source told El País newspaper they believed Spain and the UK were working together to ensure the sanctions were complied with. Spain said on Friday it planned to lodge a formal complaint about the action, because it considers the sea around Gibraltar to be part of its international waters, while the British regard it as theirs.
“There is no doubt that the Spanish government also supports the sanctions despite the fact that both governments have unfinished business concerning the territorial dispute over Gibraltar,” the source said. “We are studying the circumstances and looking at how this affects our sovereignty,” Josep Borell, Spain’s acting foreign minister, said.
The action comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Iran. Washington has accused Tehran of sabotaging oil tankers in the strait of Hormuz. In response to the Spanish claims, Gibraltar said: “There has been no political request at any time from any government that the Gibraltar government should act or not act.”
The ship’s seizure has created a diplomatically delicate situation for the UK as it strives to maintain good relations with Iran. The British ambassador to Tehran was summoned to the foreign ministry to account for what Iran said was an illegal seizure. The territory’s government said it only organised the seizure with the help of the Royal Marines “as a direct result only of it having reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel was acting in breach of established EU sanctions against Syria”.
It is understood Rob Macaire told the Iranians that he and the British government supported the action by the Gibraltarian authorities to enforce sanctions against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Nevertheless, the seizure was hailed enthusiastically overnight by a key member of the Trump administration.
The 28 members of the ship’s crew were questioned onboard by Gibraltarian authorities. They were mostly Indian nationals as well as some Ukrainians and Pakistanis, the territory’s government said. John Bolton, the US national security adviser, tweeted: “Excellent news: UK has detained the supertanker Grace 1 laden with Iranian oil bound for Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
Picardo thanked the efforts of the “brave men and women” from the marines and the local agencies involved in the operation. “America and our allies will continue to prevent regimes in Tehran and Damascus from profiting off this illicit trade.”
Spain The Grace 1 was likely to remain impounded for several weeks, British sources indicated. Although its exact ownership is unclear, Tehran said the tanker was Iranian owned.
After the seizure, the British ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, was summoned to explain the action. After the meeting, an Iranian foreign ministry official told the Mehr news agency: “This is the very bullying policy of the US, about which the European countries have been always protesting.” He said the seizure was “tantamount to banditry”.
Macaire had told the Iranians that he and the British government had supported the action by the Gibraltarian authorities to enforce sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, and supplied the Royal Marines on that basis.
The 28 members of the ship’s crew were questioned onboard by Gibraltarian authorities. They were mostly Indian nationals as well as some Ukrainians and Pakistanis, the territory’s government said. Pictures released by the UK’s ministry of defence showed marines on board the vessel.
According to official reports in Spain, British authorities notified Madrid that the ship was about to be boarded by marines and the operation was closely watched by a civil guard patrol boat.
But a Spanish foreign ministry spokesman added: “Spain didn’t want to interfere because the issue was compliance with European Union sanctions.”
Iran has said it intends to enrich its uranium stocks this weekend to an unspecified level beyond the 3.67% allowed under the nuclear deal, in protest against the US sanctions.
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