US regrets Gibraltar authorities release Iranian tanker after weeks in detention, warns Greece against providing any aid to Iranian tanker

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he regretted the release of an Iranian oil tanker after weeks of detention by British authorities in the Gibraltar region.
In an interview with Fox News, Pompeo said the British government’s decision was “very unfortunate”.
He added that the sale of Tehran oil transported by this tanker will allow it to contribute to the financing of the Iranian armed forces, which “planted terror and destruction and killed Americans around the world”.
Tehran said on Monday it had warned Washington against making another attempt to seize its tanker, which sailed from Gibraltar after six weeks in captivity in the British region.
The release of the tanker came despite a US request to detain her again on charges of involvement in the transfer of illegal shipments to Syria through the Iranian Revolutionary Guards listed on the list of terrorist groups in Washington.
The Gibraltar authorities rejected the US request, stressing that it was not possible to issue a court order to detain the tanker again because US sanctions against Tehran do not apply in the European Union.
Iran has been locked in a naval confrontation with US ally Britain since the British navy seized the Iranian tanker off the British coast of Gibraltar on July 4 on suspicion of transporting oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions.
Two weeks later, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized a British-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf waters in what Britain considered a retaliatory move.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have escalated since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in May 2018 from the nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic as part of its “extreme pressure” campaign.
The United States has conveyed its “strong position” to the Greek government over the Iranian tanker who sailed to Greece on Monday after being held in Gibraltar and Washington says it is carrying oil to Syria, a State Department official said.
Any efforts to help the Iranian tanker may be seen as support for an organization that the United States lists as a terrorist organization, the official said.
For its part, the British government demanded Iran on Monday, to ensure that its tanker released in Gibraltar does not go to Syria, promising the Islamic Republic of new punitive measures in the absence of compliance.
The UK has been informed that the Gibraltar authorities have received from Iran assurances that the Grace 1, which was renamed after its release to Adrian Darya-1, will not fly to Syria, a Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement on the government’s official website.
“Iran must meet its guarantees.
We’ll not stand idly by and will not allow Iran or anyone else to bypass vital EU sanctions against a regime that has used chemical weapons against its people”, he said, referring to the Syrian government, which Britain and other Western countries blame for a series of controversial chemical incidents.
The ministry stressed the absence of any comparison between the arrest of the Iranian tanker in Gibraltar for alleged breach of European sanctions, and the detention of the Islamic Republic later last month British tanker Stena Impero while crossing the Strait of Hormuz for alleged violation of navigation laws, and called for “respect for free shipping for commercial shipping Compliance with international law”.
Tehran has denied providing any guarantees on the destination of the tanker, which was detained by the authorities of Gibraltar with the help of Britain, in early July, and released, despite the issuance of the US government arrest warrant against it.