Britain will facilitate the release of a seized tanker if Iran can provide guarantees the vessel would not breach European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria, Britain's top diplomat said.
Crew members walk down a ladder on board the supertanker Grace 1 off the coast of Gibraltar on July 6, 2019.
Hunt said late Saturday that he held a"constructive call" with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and reassured him that"our concern was the destination, not the origin, of the oil." Zarif told him Iran is not seeking to escalate, Hunt said. A day earlier, Iran had reiterated its demands that the British navy release the tanker, accusing London of playing a"dangerous game" and threatening retribution.
The U.S. has also sent thousands of troops, an aircraft carrier, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers and advanced fighter jets to the Middle East in recent weeks. Hunt told reporters Saturday that he told Zarif if the U.K. could receive sufficient guarantees that that tanker was not headed for Syria"then we would be able to resolve the situation following, of course, due process in the Gibraltar courts."
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