The United States (U.S.) Department of Justice has issued a warrant seeking immediate seizure of the ‘Grace 1’ tanker in Gibraltar, after it was set free by the Supreme Court in the British territory of Gibraltar on Thursday, August 15, 2019.
According to the warrant, the ship is a part of a scheme “to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments to Syria from Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
The warrant is addressed to “the United States Marshals Service and / or any other duly authorized law enforcement officer”. It called for the immediate seizing of the tanker and the oil. It has also ordered the seizure of U.S. $ 995,000 from an account at an unnamed U.S. bank linked to Paradise Global Trading LLC, an Iranian company, which is alleged to be a shell company for all the businesses of IRGC. The U.S. has already designated the IRGC as a ‘terrorist organisation’.
It observed that the ship and the firm has violated International Emergency Economic Powers Act and has been involved in bank fraud, money laundering and terrorism.
Speaking on the occasion, Federal Prosecutor – Jessie Liu, said, “A network of front companies allegedly laundered millions of dollars in support of such shipments.”
Prior to this, on August 15, 2019, the Supreme Court in Gibraltar ordered the tanker to be set free, quashing away the last-minute request place by the U.S. to detain the ship. The order came after Iran assured Gibraltar in writing that the cargo will not head to Syria.
However, the tanker didn’t sail immediately as it was waiting for 6 new crew members, including a new Captain, to arrive. The Captain of the ship, an Indian by national, had asked for his replacement as he was not happy with the developments and wanted to go home. Hence, the tanker had to wait for the new Captain to arrive. In addition, the tanker also needed some repair work. All these things delayed the sailing of the ship.
Accusing U.S., the Foreign Minister of Iran – Javad Zarif had tweeted, “Having failed to accomplish its objectives through its #EconomicTerrorism—including depriving cancer patients of medicine— the US attempted to abuse the legal system to steal our property on the high seas. This piracy attempt is indicative of Trump admin’s contempt for the law.”
For the records, the ‘Grace 1’ tanker was detained by the British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar on July 4, 2019 over violations of European Union (EU) sanctions, for carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria. The boat’s navigation plan showed a fully marked-out route from the Gulf to the Syrian port of Baniyas.
