Iranian tanker to be released if oil does not go to Syria, says Hunt

Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said the Iranian oil tanker stopped by the Royal Marines near Gibraltar could be released if the UK was badured that the oil would not be transported to Syria.

The tanker, seized on July 4, was suspected of violating EU sanctions.

Iran claimed that the seizure was a "piracy". The Iranian ships then tried to prevent a British tanker, said the United Kingdom.

After "constructive" talks with Tehran, Hunt said he was encouraged by Iran's unwillingness to aggravate the situation.

He said rebaduring the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, that "our concern has always been the destination, not the origin of the oil" and that the United Kingdom would facilitate the release "if we received sufficient guarantees that he would not be sent to Syria ".

He added that Mr. Zarif wanted to solve the problem and did not "try to make it worse".

Why was the tanker seized?

A team of about thirty British Royal Marines has been sent from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar to badist in the detention of the super tanker and its cargo, at the request of the Government of Gibraltar, announced the BBC.

Authorities said there was reason to believe that the Iranian tanker Grace 1 was carrying crude oil to the Baniyas refinery in Syria.

The refinery is subject to the sanctions of the European Union against Syria.

How has Iran reacted?

Iran has denied that the oil tanker goes to Syria and threatens to seize a British oil tanker in retaliation.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi described the actions as "a form of piracy" and demanded that the ship be immediately released and allowed to continue its journey.

Iran has summoned the British ambbadador to Tehran, Robert Macaire, to complain about what he has called the "illegal seizure".

Mr Mousavi added that "the measure indicated that the United Kingdom was following the hostile US policy, which is unacceptable to the Iranian nation and government".

Iran has since reiterated calls for the release of the oil tanker.

Last week, an Iranian official, speaking to the official Irish news agency IRNA, warned the UK not to get involved in "this dangerous game".

What happened next?

On July 9, the United Kingdom described as "critical" the threat to British ships in Iran's Gulf waters.

A day later, Iranian ships tried to prevent a British tanker from visiting the area before being warned by a Royal Navy ship, according to the Defense Ministry.

Ships belonging to the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) approached the British Heritage tanker and attempted to immobilize it as it was leaving the Gulf for the Strait of Armenia. Hormuz.

HMS Montrose, a British frigate observing the BP tanker, was forced to move between the three boats and the ship, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said.

Iran has denied any attempt at seizure. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is quoted as saying that the United Kingdom has claimed to "create tension".

Analysis

By James Robbins, diplomatic correspondent of the BBC

Jeremy Hunt very deliberately insisted to the Iranian Foreign Minister that it was the apparent destination of oil – Syria – that concerned him, and not his country of origin , Iran.

The Iranians do not accept that the EU sanctions against Syria apply to them, but by making this distinction between origin and destination, the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs attempts to restore the differences between Britain's political approach towards Iran and that of the United States.

Washington is pursuing its own punitive measures against Tehran, including an attempt to close all of its oil export capacity. This is an approach that Britain and the EU do not support.

Iran often accuses the EU in general, and Britain in particular, of not being too concerned about protecting it from US efforts to destroy the Iranian economy.

This British offer to Iran is motivated by a variety of motivations, including a burning desire to emerge from the crisis by a mere collapse of relations, but one of these motivations is to demonstrate a distinct distance from the American approach.