Royal Marine patrol vessel is seen beside the Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, Thursday, July 4, 2019. Authorities in Gibraltar said they intercepted Thursday an Iranian supertanker believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Tehran's crude oil to war-ravaged Syria. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

Gibraltar court orders release of seized Iranian tanker

Gibraltar’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of an Iranian supertanker seized on suspicion of shipping oil to war-torn Syria in breach of international sanctions, in a blow to the United States which had tried to block the vessel’s departure.

The decision by Chief Justice Anthony Dudley came after Gibraltar’s government said it had received written assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not be headed for countries “subject to European Union sanctions”.

The Grace 1 “is no longer subject to detention”, he said.

Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo hailed the ruling, saying in a statement: “We have deprived the Assad regime in Syria of more than $140 million worth of crude oil.” Hours before the announcement, the US launched a last-minute legal move demanding that the British overseas territory detain the ship.

Judge Dudley said the ship would have been on its way had Washington not intervened, at a time when an accord between London and Tehran had seemed within reach after weeks of diplomatic wrangling.

Mr Picardo said he had met with Iranian officials on July 19 in London “with a will for a de-escalation with regard to all the various problems arising from the detention of the Grace 1”.

Washington’s move had delayed the court decision on the vessel’s fate but Judge Dudley said in his ruling that he had not received a written request from US.

Read the articles in The Australian (Reuters, AP) and The Australian (AFP).