International
US loses bid to seize Iranian oil tanker as Gibraltar rejects demand
The Iranian oil tanker at the centre of a diplomatic dispute between the Asian country and the US has departed the shores of British controlled territory of Gilbraltar.
The ship which was formerly known as Grace 1 and now renamed Adrian Darya 1, departed late on Sunday after Gibraltar rejected a US demand to seize the vessel.
A monitoring website known as Marine Traffic, said the supertanker which had been detained since July 4 off the coast of Gibraltar lifted anchor on Sunday evening.
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Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Gibraltar, said the ship had left and was “heading east and is about to join the international shipping lanes in the Strait of Gibraltar”.
“The destination is unknown. It just says on the transponder: Mediterranean. That appears to fit with the tracking so far.”
Recall that the US justice department had issued a warrant to seize the Iranian oil tanker, a day after a judge in Gibraltar ordered it to be released.
The warrant, issued by a US federal court in Washington last Friday, was addressed to “the United States Marshals Service and/or any other duly authorized law enforcement officer”.
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