Gibraltar officials denied reports today that they intend to release the Grace 1 oil tanker,
an Iranian tanker they’ve held for over a month. British officials
concurred, saying it was part of an “ongoing investigation.”
It’s not clear why, but Iranian officials believed the tanker might be
about to be freed. In fact, they told the media that they believed the
tanker might be let go by Tuesday night. That clearly did not happen.
The tanker was capture by British forces in early July, and accused of
intending to deliver oil to Syria. Iran responded weeks later by
capturing a British tanker, and has expressed openness about an
exchange.
The British government has expressed opposition to any sort of trade,
and has tried to spin their capture of an Iranian tanker as justified,
and Iran’s capture of their tanker as unjustified. Clearly, that’s not
going to resolve anything, however, and is leaving the matter open for
resolution.
Gibraltar Denies Iran’s Report Oil Tanker Could Soon Be Released
Britain claims tanker held in 'ongoing investigation'
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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