Adrian Darya 1 Seen Off Syrian Port Tartus

Satellite imagery appears to show the once-detained Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 near the Syrian port, despite US efforts to seize the vessel (AP)
Satellite imagery appears to show the once-detained Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 near the Syrian port, despite US efforts to seize the vessel (AP)
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Adrian Darya 1 Seen Off Syrian Port Tartus

Satellite imagery appears to show the once-detained Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 near the Syrian port, despite US efforts to seize the vessel (AP)
Satellite imagery appears to show the once-detained Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya-1 near the Syrian port, despite US efforts to seize the vessel (AP)

Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, released last month from Gibraltar, has arrived at the Syrian port of Tartus, asserted US national security adviser John Bolton.

Satellite images showed the oil tanker off the Syrian port of Tartus, as Maxar Technologies Inc said on Saturday.

Adrian Darya, which was at the center of a dispute between Tehran and Western powers, was seen off Tatrus after Iran promised it won’t transport its shipment to Syria.

Tank Trackers site, which monitors the route of oil tankers, revealed that the tanker was spotted near Tartus, but it could not confirm whether the ship carrying 2.1 million barrels of oil was unloading.

Pictures provided by Maxar showed that Adrian Darya was very close to Tartus port, days Refinitiv ship-tracking data showed the tanker apparently shut its transceiver down in the Mediterranean off the west coast of Syria.

The new images matched a black-and-white image that Bolton previously posted on his Twitter page.

“Anyone who said the Adrian Darya-1 wasn’t headed to Syria is in denial. Tehran thinks it’s more important to fund the murderous Assad regime than provide for its own people. We can talk, but Iran’s not getting any sanctions relief until it stops lying and spreading terror,” tweeted Bolton.

The British Special Marines detained the tanker, formerly known as Grace 1, off Gibraltar on July 4, on suspicion of heading to Syria in violation of EU sanctions. Two weeks later, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Gibraltar government released the Iranian tanker on August 15 after receiving official written assurances from Tehran that the tanker would not unload its 2.1 million barrels of oil in Syria.

However, sources in the shipping sector suggest that the tanker is trying to transfer part of its cargo to another ship, after Iran said it sold the oil.

Iranian and Syrian officials have not acknowledged the vessel's presence near Syria. There was no immediate report in Iranian state media about the ship, though authorities earlier said the 2.1 million barrels of crude oil on board had been sold to an unnamed buyer.

Media affiliated with the Syrian regime in Tartus welcomed the Iranian tanker, and thanked Iran for “defying the whole world and US”.

Tartus News Network thanked Iran on its Facebook page, saying that “there won’t be a fuel crisis in the winter because of the Iranian ally who challenged the whole world and challenged the US... insisting on sending the ship despite all the sanctions on anyone who exports oil to Syria.”

The oil on board would be worth about $130 million on the global market, but it remains unclear who would buy the oil as they'd face the threat of US sanctions.

US prosecutors in federal court allege the Adrian Darya’s owner is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which answers only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

On Wednesday, the US imposed new sanctions on an oil shipping network it alleged had ties to IRGC and offered up to $15 million for anyone with information that disrupts the Guard’s operations.

Meanwhile Saturday, the US Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration issued a new warning to shippers about a potential threat off the coast of Yemen in the southern Red Sea.

“A maritime threat has been reported in the Red Sea in the vicinity of Yemen. The nature of the event is potential increased hostilities that threaten maritime security,” the warning read.

A spokesman for the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, Commander Joshua Frey said the Navy remained ready to maintain the safety of shippers in the region.

Associated Press has asked him, but Frey declined to specifically discuss the warning.



Heavy Rains Flood Khartoum Streets, Exposing Decomposed Bodies

A resident attempts to drain floodwaters outside home in Omdurman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A resident attempts to drain floodwaters outside home in Omdurman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Heavy Rains Flood Khartoum Streets, Exposing Decomposed Bodies

A resident attempts to drain floodwaters outside home in Omdurman (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A resident attempts to drain floodwaters outside home in Omdurman (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Torrential rains battered several parts of Sudan’s Khartoum state this week, flooding residential neighborhoods and streets, disrupting movement, and sweeping away war debris, including decomposed corpses believed to belong to paramilitary fighters.

The rainfall began as sanitation workers were carrying out maintenance on stormwater drains. But before completing their task, the downpour caught them off guard, forcing them to begin draining the water with basic tools already in use.

Local authorities said residents in the East Nile district reported seeing decomposed bodies swept into drainage canals. Officials suspect the corpses may be those of fighters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which controlled swathes of the capital during its year-long war with the Sudanese army.

The RSF had held large parts of Khartoum since conflict erupted on April 15, 2023. But by March this year, the army claimed to have regained full control of the city. Since then, thousands of displaced families have returned home, according to state authorities, with more returning each day.

This year’s rainy season arrives amid the devastation of war, which has crippled already fragile infrastructure, particularly flood drainage systems. Even before the conflict, seasonal rains often caused widespread destruction in Khartoum, damaging homes and public facilities and resulting in casualties.

Despite extensive water pooling in open areas, Sudan’s Civil Defense Authority reported no fatalities or property losses. “Water was drained naturally, without any intervention from Civil Defense teams,” said Major General Qureshi, deputy director of emergency operations, in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Qureshi added that his teams remain on high alert, as a precaution, although Nile water levels remain stable.

Residents attempted to clear water from their homes by removing weeds and waste blocking drainage channels.

“During the RSF's control of the city, we tried to dig small trenches to divert the rainwater toward the main drains,” said resident Mohamed Elias. “But the blocked drains caused water to stagnate for months, leading to insect infestations and disease.”

Although thousands have returned to Khartoum, the national government has not fully re-established itself in the capital, which it fled in favor of Port Sudan, a Red Sea city now serving as a temporary seat of power. Khartoum’s governor, Ahmed Othman, previously told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government’s return to the capital would be gradual.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said over one million displaced Sudanese have returned to their areas of origin across the country, including in Khartoum.