{"id":222864,"date":"2019-07-14T23:05:44","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T03:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=222864"},"modified":"2019-07-14T23:05:44","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T03:05:44","slug":"uk-says-seized-iranian-oil-tanker-could-be-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/07\/14\/uk-says-seized-iranian-oil-tanker-could-be-released\/","title":{"rendered":"UK says seized Iranian oil tanker could be released"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The comments by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt late Saturday could help de-escalate tensions that have spiked in recent days. (File Photo<\/a>: Jeremy Hunt\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 Britain will facilitate the release of a seized Iranian tanker if Iran can provide guarantees the vessel would not breach European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria, Britain’s top diplomat said, as European nations called for new talks to ease tensions in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

The comments by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt late Saturday could help de-escalate tensions that have spiked in recent days. In apparent retaliation for the seized tanker, Iranian paramilitary vessels tried to impede the passage of a British oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz, only turning away after receiving \u201cverbal warnings\u201d from a British navy vessel accompanying the ship, the British government said.<\/p>\n

Hunt said he held a \u201cconstructive call\u201d with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and reassured him \u201cour concern was the destination, not the origin, of the oil.\u201d Hunt wrote that Zarif told him Iran is not seeking to escalate.<\/p>\n

The Foreign Office elaborated in a statement, saying: \u201cThis was about the enforcement of EU Syria sanctions: action was taken because of where the oil was going \u2014 a sanctioned Syrian entity \u2014 not because it was from Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday the leaders of Britain, France and Germany called for an end to \u201cthe escalation of tensions\u201d in the region, which come a year after President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Theresa May, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were \u201cdeeply troubled by the attacks we have witnessed in the Persian Gulf and beyond, and by the deterioration of the security in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

They called for talks to end the standoff and \u201csigns of goodwill\u201d from all sides.<\/p>\n

Ali Rabiei, an Iranian government spokesman, said British authorities would release the ship because \u201cthe tanker’s destination was not what the British announced,\u201d according to state TV. Iranian officials had earlier denied the ship was bound for Syria.<\/p>\n

A day earlier, Iran had reiterated its demands that the British navy release the tanker, accusing London of playing a \u201cdangerous game\u201d and threatening retribution.<\/p>\n

The tanker’s interception came on the heels of already high tensions in the Persian Gulf as the Trump administration continues its campaign of maximum pressure on Iran.<\/p>\n

Since pulling out of the nuclear deal, Trump has re-imposed harsh sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports, exacerbating an economic crisis that has sent its currency plummeting.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has also sent thousands of troops, an aircraft carrier, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets to the Middle East in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

Iran recently begun surpassing uranium enrichment limits set in its 2015 nuclear deal, saying these moves can be reversed if the other parties to the agreement \u2014 Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union \u2014 come up with enough economic incentives to effectively offset the U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n

The Iranian supertanker, carrying 2.1 million barrels of light crude oil, was seized with the help of British Royal Marines earlier this month off Gibraltar, a British overseas territory at the southern tip of Spain.<\/p>\n

Hunt told reporters on Saturday that he told Zarif if the U.K. could receive sufficient guarantees that that tanker was not headed for Syria \u201cthen we would be able to resolve the situation following of course, due process in the Gibraltar courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

In recent days, Hunt has called for \u201ccool heads\u201d to prevail to ensure there is no \u201cunintended escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.K., meanwhile, is accelerating the dispatch of the HMS Duncan to relieve the HMS Montrose, the frigate operating in the Persian Gulf that warned away the Iranian vessels. The HMS Duncan, a destroyer, is larger than the HMS Montrose.<\/p>\n

Police in Gibraltar said Friday they arrested four crewmen of the Iranian ship, including its captain and chief officer. All are Indian nationals.<\/p>\n

A senior Spanish official had said the interception was carried out at the request of the United States, but later Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told parliament no other government had asked the territory to act.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran and Jill Lawless in London contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates \u2014 Britain will facilitate the release of a seized Iranian tanker if Iran can provide guarantees …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":222866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-aya-batrawy","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222867,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222864\/revisions\/222867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}