Authorities in Gibraltar said they intercepted a supertanker on Thursday that was believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to war-ravaged Syria, while a senior Spanish official said the operation was requested by the United States.
Gibraltar port and law enforcement agencies, assisted by Britain's Royal Marines, boarded the Grace 1 early Thursday, authorities on the British overseas territory at the tip of Spain said in a statement.
It added that the vessel was believed to be headed to the Baniyas Refinery in Syria, which is a government-owned facility under the control of Syrian President Bashar Assad and is subject to the EU's Syrian Sanctions Regime.
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The EU, and others, have imposed sanctions on Assad's government over its continued crackdown against civilians. They currently target 270 people and 70 entities.
Spain's caretaker foreign minister said the tanker was stopped by British authorities after a request from the United States.
Josep Borrell told reporters in Madrid that Spain was assessing the implications of the operation because the detention took place in waters it considers its own.
Britain insists Gibraltar is part of the United Kingdom but Spain argues that it is not, and the tanker operation risks offending the Spanish authorities.
"We're looking into how this (operation) affects our sovereignty," said Borrell, who was nominated earlier this week to become the EU's foreign policy chief.
The Spanish claim that the US requested the operation switched attentions as to whether the tanker was carrying Iranian crude or not.
The Gibraltar authorities didn't confirm the origin of the ship's cargo but Lloyd's List, a publication that specializes in maritime affairs, reported this week that the Panama-flagged large carrier was laden with Iranian oil. Experts were said to have concluded that it carried oil from Iran because the tanker wasn't sending geographic information while in Iranian waters. According to a UN list, the ship is owned by the Singapore-based Grace Tankers Ltd.
According to the data firm Refinitv, the vessel likely carried just over 2 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. Tracking data showed that the tanker made a slow trip around the southern tip of Africa before reaching the Mediterranean Sea.
The tanker's detention comes at a particularly sensitive time as tensions between the US and Iran grow over the unraveling of a 2015 nuclear deal, which President Donald Trump withdrew from last year. Trump has also slapped sanctions on Iran and recently approved the passage of a carrier group, bombers and fighter jets to the Persian Gulf.
In recent days, Iran has broken through the limit which the deal put on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium and plans on Sunday to boost its enrichment. Meanwhile, oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz have been targeted in mysterious attacks as Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen launch bomb-laden drones into Saudi Arabia.
The US has rushed thousands of additional troops, an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and F-22 fighters to the region, raising fears of a miscalculation that may spark a wider conflict. Last month, Iran shot down a US surveillance drone, further stoking those fears.
