The US Justice Department has issued a warrant to seize a detained Iranian oil tanker, a day after its release by the Gibraltar government. Gibraltar’s authorities released the oil tanker despite a previous US request to seize it. The ‘Grace 1’ supertanker was released after Iran had guaranteed in writing that it was never destined to an EU-sanctioned entity, such as Syria.
US Federal prosecutor, Jessie Liu, said that the Grace 1 supertanker, which is carrying more than 2 m barrels of oil, was subject to seizure. The US federal court warrant called for the seizure of the tanker and the oil on board. It also ordered the seizure of $995,000 from an account linked to an Iranian company. The US court accused the tanker and the company of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, bank fraud and money laundering.
