Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Sunday said an Iranian oil tanker at the center of a dispute between Tehran and Western powers had reached its destination and sold its oil, state television reported.
"The tanker has gone to its destination, the oil has been sold," spokesman Abbas Mousavi told the television station without disclosing whether the crude oil had been delivered.
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On Saturday, the Adrian Darya 1, which went dark off Syria earlier in the week, was photographed by satellite off the Syrian port of Tartus.
Maxar Technologies Inc., a US space technology company, supplied the images, which showed the tanker Adrian Darya 1 very close to Tartus on Friday, Sept. 6.
Ship-tracking data showed that the vessel appeared to have turned off its transponder in the Mediterranean west of Syria last Tuesday.
The vessel, formerly named Grace 1, was detained by British Royal Marine commandos off Gibraltar on July 4 as it was suspected to be en route to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
Gibraltar released the Iranian vessel on Aug. 15 after receiving formal written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its 2.1 million barrels of oil in Syria.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department blacklisted the tanker.
In a related development, Iranian state television reported Sunday that Iran might soon release a detained British tanker, pending the completion of legal proceedings.
"I hope the procedures will be completed soon and this tanker will be released," Mousavi told the station.
In July, Iran seized a British oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz for alleged marine violations, two weeks after British forces detained an Iranian tanker near Gibraltar accused of taking oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
The Iranian tanker was later released. Iran this week freed seven of the 23 crew members of the British-flagged tanker.
