It had John Bolton's fingerprints all over it and, if the Brits had fallen for it, they would have been America's accomplices in its cold war with Iran.
It was six weeks ago that Royal Marines boarded and seized the Iranian oil tanker, Grace I, for supposedly being in violation of EU sanctions. The Brits maintained the tanker was en route to deliver a cargo of oil to Syria.
The Iranians retaliated by seizing a British flagged tanker. Eventually a deal was worked out. The Iranian tanker, being held in Gibraltar, would be released to deliver its cargo to Greece, not Syria. Then the British vessel will likewise be free to go.
Getting word of the deal, Washington (Bolton) requested that US forces be allowed to seize the vessel, presumably from the Brits or the government of Gibraltar.
Can anybody say Huawei? Perhaps realizing how Canada got dragged into Trump's trade war with China by the device of an extradition request for a Huawei executive, the Brits chose not to fall for the same gambit.
Before anybody could say, "which way did they go?" the Grace I was released by Gibraltar to steam to Greece.
The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, said in a statement on Thursday that he had “received written assurance” from Iran the previous day that “if released, the destination of Grace 1 would not be an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions.”
“In light of the assurances we have received,” he added, “there are no longer any reasonable grounds for the continued legal detention of the Grace 1.”
When asked later in a CNN interview where the ship was headed, Mr. Picardo said, “That is not an issue for the authorities in Gibraltar.”
The oil trader in Iran said the tanker would sail to Greece and then to Italy, though it remained unclear who would buy Iranian oil in defiance of American sanctions. Iranian officials have insisted that the oil was always bound for Europe, not Syria.
The Iranian government said earlier this week that a deal for the release of the ship was near, which officials in Gibraltar and London would neither confirm nor deny at the time. British officials insisted that it was a matter for the Gibraltar authorities.
Good post ....
ReplyDelete"The Iranians retaliated by seizing a British flagged tanker."
Earlier this summer, Iran and it's capture of a tanker (tankers?) in the gulf, was a topic of conversation among some (educated) friends and relatives.
Not a one was aware of the Gibraltar incident.
No official censors needed in the oceans of wilful ignorance.