Washington DC, August 20: A US state department official on Tuesday said the United States has conveyed its strong position to the government of Greece about the arrival of released Iranian Grace1 supertanker that sailed from Gibraltar yesterday after the Supreme Court ruling in defiance of Washington’s decision to keep the vessel detained for allegedly shipping crude oil to Syria – a violation of the international law.
The US official said any external efforts to help the vessel could be considered as offering material support to an international terrorist outfit, designated by the US, which could have consequences of possible criminal offense and immigration.
The official stated the US had conveyed the Greek government its “strong position, including all ports in the region of Mediterranean about assisting the tanker, according to Reuters news reports.
The vessel has departed from Gibraltar amid diplomatic disputes after the Gibraltar Supreme Court ordered to release the vessel, seized by Britain, and rejected a request by the United States to seize further the vessel.
As per the monitoring site Marine Traffic, the Grace1 vessel lifted anchor at around 23:00 GMT on Sunday evening. The tracking website showed the oil tanker moving east direction into the Mediterranean and arrived in Greece as its destination.
The vessel, now renamed Adrian Darya 1, previously knows as Grace1 supertanker.
A senior Iranian official on Monday was quoted as stating the crisis in Iran-British relationship wouldn’t get ended until the vessel reached its destination, according to Al-Jazeera news reports.
Also read: Iranian Grace1 supertanker departs from Gibraltar to Greece after US request dismissed