After being seized for more than a month by Gibraltar, the Iranian tanker is preparing to set sail back home. 24 Indian crew members were set free from the tanker that was detained for being suspected of carrying oil to Syria. The tanker was captured with the help of British Royal Marines and this led to the deterioration of relations between Tehran and London amidst deteriorating relations between the US and Iran.
This also led to detention by Iran of the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero.
The Grace 1 will be renamed and switch to the Iranian flag for its onward journey, the deputy head of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organisation, Jalil Eslami, told state television.
"At the owner's request, the Grace 1 will depart for the Mediterranean after being re-flagged under the Islamic Republic of Iran's flag and renamed as Adrian Darya for the voyage," Eslami said.
"The ship was of Russian origin and Panama-flagged and is carrying two million barrels of Iranian oil," he added.
The US, in a last attempt to keep the tanker, issued a warrant to seize the tanker. The tanker is expected to set sail on Sunday.
But a source with knowledge of the case told the Gibraltar Chronicle daily that the tanker is unlikely to set sail before Sunday.
"Six seafarers including a master will arrive on Sunday," the source said on condition of anonymity. "The ship is unlikely to sail before then." Gibraltar's Supreme Court ordered the tanker released on Thursday after the British overseas territory said it had received assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not head to any country subject to European Union sanctions.
The reason for detaining the ship was alleged suspicion that the cargo was destined for the Banyas oil refinery in Syria in breach of an EU embargo.
But Iran denied it had provided any assurances to secure the ship's release, saying Gibraltar was only seeking to "save face".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, “The tanker's destination was not Syria... and even if it was, it did not concern anyone else."
But the Gibraltar government insisted that Tehran had given a written commitment.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US attempt at "piracy" had failed, saying it showed Washington's "contempt for the law".
Tehran and Washington have been at loggerheads since US President Donald Trump withdrew last year from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran, reimposing crippling unilateral sanctions.
Following the Grace 1's release, Britain renewed its demand that Iran releases the British-flagged tanker it seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19. Tehran claimed that Stena Impero violated "international maritime rules", but the move was widely seen as retaliation for the detention of the Grace 1.
