Iran claims UK may release captured Grace 1 oil tanker soon, suggesting Britain is close to a U-turn on the ship swap idea it previously rejected
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Jon Nazca/Reuters
Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 sits anchored after it was seized by British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria on July 20, 2019.
Iranian authorities say that the UK might free the Tehran-flagged tanker it captured in July, suggesting that Britain could be coming around to the idea of an oil tanker swap that it previously rejected.
Jalil Eslami, the deputy head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, said on Tuesday that Britain "is interested" in releasing the Grace 1 tanker.Eslami did not make clear what those documents are.
Iran's state-run Fars news agency on Tuesday tweeted a photo of the Grace 1 alongside the caption: "According to government consultations, we expect to continue operating in the international waters with the Iranian flag in the very near future," adding that "an informal exchange to resolve the issue" was underway.The UK Foreign Office has not yet responded to Business Insider's request for comment on the potential release of the Grace 1.
Reuters
The Grace 1 off Gibraltar on July 4, 2019, the day of its seizure.
On July 19, Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized the British-flagged Stena Impero oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in an apparent retaliation against the Grace 1's seizure.
Neither vessel has been released yet. Both sides have accused each other of illegally seizing the other's tanker.
Read more: Iran was able to capture a British oil tanker because it only gave the Royal Navy 1 hour's notice to escort it, rather than 24, former UK Defence Secretary saysIRIB News Agency via AP
Iran's state-run IRIB news agency aired footage on July 22, 2019, purporting to show crew members of Stena Impero, the British oil tanker that Iran's Revolutionary Guard, in a conference room on board the ship.
The possibility of the UK releasing the Grace 1 also suggests that that Britain could be coming around to the idea of swapping tankers with Iran.
This is an idea that both Iran's president has advocated in the past, but which Britain's foreign secretary rejected outright two weeks ago.Reuters
Dominic Raab, currently the British Foreign Secretary.
"We were absolutely lawfully entitled to detain it in the way we did. The Stena Impero was unlawfully detained," he added.
"So this isn't about some kind of barter. This is about international law and the rules of the international legal system being upheld, and this is what we will insist on."Read more: Britain rejects swapping seized oil tankers with Iran, 4 days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson's father said it would be 'easy peasy'British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's father has also advocated a tanker swap.
"Of course you have this situation at the moment where we've got your ship which is called Stella, you've got our ship, which is called something else," Stanley Johnson told Iran's Press TV channel on July 25, while misnaming the Iranian vessel.
"Well, the best thing would be to say, look, we let your ship go, you let our ship go," he added. "Easy peasy."Copyright © 2021. Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.
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