US Issues Warrant to Seize Iranian Oil Tanker

Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 sits anchored awaiting a court ruling on whether it can be freed after it was seized in July by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory, in the Strait of Gibraltar, southern Spain, August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 sits anchored awaiting a court ruling on whether it can be freed after it was seized in July by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory, in the Strait of Gibraltar, southern Spain, August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
TT
20

US Issues Warrant to Seize Iranian Oil Tanker

Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 sits anchored awaiting a court ruling on whether it can be freed after it was seized in July by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory, in the Strait of Gibraltar, southern Spain, August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 sits anchored awaiting a court ruling on whether it can be freed after it was seized in July by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory, in the Strait of Gibraltar, southern Spain, August 15, 2019. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Newly released US court documents revealed that Washington issued a warrant for the seizure of an Iranian tanker that British Royal Marines had seized last month in Gibraltar, citing evidence that it was transporting oil to Syria in violation of US sanctions.

The oil tanker Grace 1, the more than 2 million barrels of oil it carries and $995,000 are subject to forfeiture based on a complaint by the US government, Attorney for the District of Columbia Jessie Liu said in a news release on Friday.

The tanker was seized by British Royal Marines at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria.

In a court document obtained by Reuters, it said there was evidence that showed that the tanker was scheduled to arrive in Syria in early July.

"Charts and electronic equipment recovered from onboard the Grace 1, WhatsApp messages recovered from crewmembers' mobile devices, and crewmembers' statements revealed that the Grace 1 was destined for Port Banias, Syria in violation of US sanctions," the document said.

For his part, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi denied that the destination was Syria and he was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying: "As we said earlier ... Syria was not its destination and we have upheld the same ... and reiterated that it was nobody's business even if it was Syria,"

According to Reuters, Gibraltar authorities said on Thursday the US Department of Justice had applied to seize the tanker.

Gibraltar, which said it first received a US Department of Justice request to seize the Grace 1 tanker on Thursday, lifted the tanker's detention order later in the same day. But, the vessel's fate was further complicated by a last-ditch US legal appeal to hold it.

The warrant for the seizure of the tanker was issued by the US District Court for the District of Columbia and addressed to "the United States Marshal's Service and/or any other duly authorized law enforcement officer."



North Korea Fires Missiles as South Begins Drills with US

South Korean protesters hold banners that collectively read "Stop the military exercise between the US and South Korea" during a rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Seoul on March 10. Jung Yeon-je / AFP
South Korean protesters hold banners that collectively read "Stop the military exercise between the US and South Korea" during a rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Seoul on March 10. Jung Yeon-je / AFP
TT
20

North Korea Fires Missiles as South Begins Drills with US

South Korean protesters hold banners that collectively read "Stop the military exercise between the US and South Korea" during a rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Seoul on March 10. Jung Yeon-je / AFP
South Korean protesters hold banners that collectively read "Stop the military exercise between the US and South Korea" during a rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Seoul on March 10. Jung Yeon-je / AFP

North Korea fired "multiple unidentified ballistic missiles" on Monday, South Korea's military said, the same day Seoul and Washington began a major annual joint military drill known as Freedom Shield.
"Our military has detected at around 13:50 (0450 GMT) multiple unidentified ballistic missiles fired from Hwanghae province into the West Sea," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Yellow Sea.
"Our military will bolster surveillance and maintain a full readiness posture under close cooperation with the United States," the JCS added.
The United States stations tens of thousands of US soldiers in South Korea, and the allies regularly stage joint drills, which they describe as defensive in nature, AFP said.
But such exercises infuriate Pyongyang, which regards them as rehearsals for invasion and routinely responds with weapons tests of its own.
Earlier Monday, the nuclear-armed North slammed the drills as a "provocative act", warning of the danger of sparking war with "an accidental single shot".
"This is a dangerous provocative act of leading the acute situation on the Korean peninsula, which may spark off a physical conflict between the two sides by means of an accidental single shot," said Pyongyang's foreign ministry, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The joint US-South Korea "Freedom Shield 2025" exercise kicked off on Monday, and will involve "live, virtual, and field-based training", according to a US statement.
The exercise will run until March 20, the statement said.
The latest exercise comes after two South Korean Air Force fighter jets accidentally dropped eight bombs on a village during a joint training exercise with US forces on March 6.
Some 31 people, including civilians and military personnel, were wounded in that incident, South Korea's military said.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The large-scale Freedom Shield exercises are one of the allies' biggest annual joint exercises.
In its statement on Monday, North Korea's foreign ministry dubbed the exercises "an aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal".
Last week, Pyongyang slammed the United States for "political and military provocations" over the visit of a US Navy aircraft carrier to the South Korean port of Busan.