A Chevron-chartered oil tanker seized by Iran more than a year ago is heading toward the Sohar port in Oman, ship tracking data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed on Friday.
The data showed the vessel moving to international waters, with the destination showing as Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
The Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet was boarded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Gulf of Oman in April 2023 after an alleged collision with an Iranian boat.
The US State Department called in March for the immediate release of the tanker. In the same month, the Fars news agency said Iran would unload about $50 million worth of crude from it in response to the confiscation of oil by the United States from an Iranian-flagged tanker.
The Advantage Sweet is a Suezmax crude tanker that had been chartered by oil major Chevron.
Iran said it had seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it collided with an Iranian boat.
The US Treasury Department reported at the time that the proceeds of Iranian oil smuggling were being used to support the Qods Force, the foreign arm of the Revolutionary Guards charged with intelligence and military operations in the Middle East.
Compensations to Iran
The release of the tanker came after an Iranian court earlier on Thursday ordered the US government to pay more than $6.7 billion in compensation over a Swedish company stopping its supply of special dressings and bandages for those afflicted by a rare skin disorder after Washington imposed sanctions on Iran.
Iran’s government initially said it seized the Advantage Sweet because it hit another vessel, something not supported by any evidence. Then Iranian officials linked the Advantage Sweet’s seizure to the court case decided Thursday.
The US in response said it had exempted humanitarian goods, especially medicines and medical equipment, from its sanctions.
The developments follow the recent election of the reformist President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, who has vowed to improve relations with the West.
