US unveils warrant to seize Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar dispute
(VOVWORLD) - The US Justice Department on Friday unveiled a warrant for the seizure of the Iranian oil tanker at the center of a weeks-long diplomatic dispute, one day after a Gibraltar judge allowed the release of the detained vessel.
 Iranian supertanker Grace 1, off the coast of Gibraltar (Photo: VNA) |
The supertanker Grace 1 was seized in early July by the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.
The US has called for the seizure of the ship, which was still anchored in Gibraltar, for “a scheme to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments to Syria from Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization”.
The warrant says the vessel, all the oil aboard and 995,000 USD are subject to forfeiture based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and bank fraud, money laundering, and terrorism forfeiture statutes.