Iran tanker may leave Gibraltar on Friday, U.S. legal bid still looms
An Iranian tanker whose detention exacerbated frictions between Tehran and the West could sail free from British territory Gibraltar on Friday, though a U.S. request to halt its passage could drag the saga back into court.
The Grace 1 was seized by British Royal Marine commandos in darkness at the western mouth of the Mediterranean on July 4 on suspicion of violating European Union sanctions by taking oil to Syria, a close ally of Iran.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo decided to lift the detention order after written assurances from Tehran that the ship would not discharge its oil in Syria.
But the fate of the ship has since been complicated by a last-minute legal bid to hold it.
