DUBAI: An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the US turned off its tracking beacon, leading to renewed speculation on Tuesday that it will head to Syria.
The disappearance of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, follows a pattern of Iranian oil tankers turning off their Automatic Identification System to try and mask where they deliver their cargo amid US sanctions targeting Iran’s energy industry.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated on Tuesday that Tehran will not enter into direct talks with the US unless Washington rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump withdrew America from over a year ago.
Trump’s withdrawal and the imposition of heavy economic sanctions on Iran have blocked it from selling its crude oil abroad, a crucial source of government funding for the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, tensions have spiked across the Arabian Gulf over mysterious tanker explosions, the shooting down of a US military surveillance drone by Iran and America deploying more troops and warplanes to the region.
The Adrian Darya, which carries 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude worth some $130 million, switched off its AIS beacon just before 1600 GMT Monday, according to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com. The ship was some 45 nautical miles (83 kilometers) off the coast of Lebanon and Syria, heading north at its last report.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had alleged the US had intelligence that the Adrian Darya would head to the Syrian port of Tartus, just a short distance from its last reported position.
The actions of the Adrian Darya follow a pattern of other Iranian ships turning off their trackers once they reach near Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, said Ranjith Raja, a lead analyst at the data firm Refinitiv.
Based on the fact Turkey has stopped taking Iranian crude oil and Syria historically has taken around 1 million barrels of crude oil a month from Iran, Raja said it was likely the ship would be offloading its cargo in Syria. That could see it transfer crude oil on smaller vessels, allowing it to be taken to port, he said.
“The Iranian oil going to Syria is not something new,” Raja said. “This is a known fact.”
The oil shipment website Tanker Trackers similarly believes the Adrian Darya to be off Syria.
“It is now safe to assume she is in Syria’s territorial waters,” Tanker Trackers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Iranian officials haven’t identified who bought the Adrian Darya’s cargo, only that it has been sold.
The US, which has sought to seize the tanker, alleged in federal court that the ship is owned by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US recently declared the Guard a terrorist organization, giving it greater power to pursue seizing its assets.
US officials since have warned countries not to aid the Adrian Darya, which previously said it would be heading to Greece and Turkey before turning off its tracker Monday. Authorities in Gibraltar alleged the ship was bound for a refinery in Baniyas, Syria, when they seized it in early July. They ultimately let it go after holding it for weeks.
Meanwhile, Rouhani addressed Iran’s parliament on Tuesday and touched on ongoing negotiations aimed at saving the country’s unraveling nuclear deal. Under the landmark 2015 agreement, Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed last week that Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium still exceeds the amount allowed by the deal.
The UN agency also said Iran continues to enrich uranium up to 4.5%, above the 3.67% allowed under the deal but still far below weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iran has warned it will take additional steps away from the accord on Friday if it doesn’t get help from Europe to sell its oil abroad, calling it their “third step” away from the deal. An Iranian lawmaker has suggested France is proposing a $15 billion credit line for Tehran if it returns to the deal.
Rouhani told lawmakers that Iran wouldn’t negotiate directly with the US unless it returned to the deal. That’s after speculation grew of a possible meeting between Trump and Iranian officials following an appearance by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the Group of Seven meeting in August.
“Unfortunately after America’s violation (of the deal) and treachery and its getting out of its commitments, the Europeans too either failed to carry out their duties, or couldn’t do so, or both,” Rouhani told parliament.
Rouhani added: “If (the Europeans) don’t do anything significant, we surely will take the third step in the coming days.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed that sentiment, lashing out at both Trump for pulling out of the nuclear deal and at Europeans for failing to implement a solution that would compensate for the US withdrawal.
“They promised to find practical solutions in order to let Iran still benefit from the sanctions lifting to compensate the absence of the US,” Araghchi told a European economic gathering in Slovenia. “What happened? ... The Europeans are still not able to create a simple banking channel to let business between Iran and Europe, to let their own companies do business with Iran.”
Iran oil tanker Adrian Darya 1 pursued by US turns off its tracker near Syria
Iran oil tanker Adrian Darya 1 pursued by US turns off its tracker near Syria
- Disappearance of Adrian Darya 1 follows a pattern of Iranian oil tankers turning off tracking systems
- Renewed speculation on Tuesday that it will head to Syria
Dubai carrier Emirates suspends check-in for onward connections, flydubai cancels Iran flights
- Emirates suspends check-in for all customers in its network travelling with onward connections through Dubai
DUBAI: Dubai’s flydubai airline canceled flights to Iran on Friday after receiving an official alert, a statement said.
“In line with the issued NOTAM (notice to air missions), our flights to Iran today have been canceled,” said the statement
One flight which had already departed for Tehran returned to Dubai after the Iranian capital’s airport was closed, it added.
Flights were suspended across swathes of Iran as Iranian state media reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan.
Flight-tracking software showed commercial flights avoiding western Iran, including Isfahan, and skirting Tehran to the north and east.
Emirates meanwhile said on Friday it was suspending check-in for all customers in its network travelling with onward connections through Dubai until 2359 GMT on April 19.
Emirates, one of the world’s biggest international airlines, added that customers travelling to Dubai as their final destination may check-in and travel as usual.
Emirates and flydubai have experienced serious disruption this week after record rainfall caused more than 1,000 flight cancelations at Dubai airport, one of the world’s busiest air hubs.
Iran closes air space, commercial flights diverted after apparent Israeli retaliatory strikes
- Drones shot down over Isfahan, says Iranian state media
- Israel military refuses to comment on incident
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Israeli missiles have hit a site in Iran, ABC News reported late on Thursday, citing a US official, while Iranian state media reported an explosion in the center of the country, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.
Commercial flights began diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic claimed there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan.
Some Emirates and Flydubai flights that were flying over Iran early on Friday made sudden sharp turns away from the airspace, according to flight paths shown on tracking website Flightradar24.
“Flights over Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran cities have been suspended,” state media reported.
Iranian officials said its air defenses did shot down several drones but there had been “no missile attack for now” on the country.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning across several provinces after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan.
Several drones “have been successfully shot down by the country’s air defense, there are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian says on X.
The Fars news agency said “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase near Isfahan.
Iran’s local media also reported that nuclear facilities in Isfahan were “completely secure” after explosions were heard near the area.
“Nuclear facilities in Isfahan province are completely secure,” Tasnim news agency reports, quoting “reliable sources.”
Israel had said it would retaliate against Iran’s weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.
Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Isfahan, Isome 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran, is also home to a major air base for the Iranian military.
Meanwhile in Iraq where a number of Iranian-backed militias are based, residents in Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.
In Syria, a local activist group said strikes hit an army position in the south of the country Friday.
“There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south.
Iranian military positions in Syria had been frequently targetted by Israeli air strikes over the past years. Early this month, an Israeli strike demolished a consular building annex of the Iranian Embassy in Sydia's capital Damascus, killing 13 people, including two generals of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, triggering the Iranian missiles and drones attack on Israel on April 13.
At the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Iran urged member nations that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the UN secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”
Israel had said it was going to retaliate against Iran’s April 13 missile and drone attack.
Analysts and observers have been raising concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.
Oil prices and jumped on the reports of the Israeli strike. Brent crude futures rose 2 percent to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 1 percent.
Israel’s assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.
Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
United States had advance warning of Israel attack on Iran: US media
- US media: Israel had provided Washington with pre-notification of the strike
- Tehran’s two major airports resumed flights following a brief suspension
DUBAI/WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: The United States received advance notice of Israel’s reported strike on Iran but did not endorse the operation or play any part in its execution, US media quoted officials as saying.
NBC and CNN, citing sources familiar with the matter and a US official, respectively, said Israel had provided Washington with pre-notification of the strike.
Various networks cited officials confirming a strike had taken place inside Iran, with CNN quoting one official as stating the target was not a nuclear facility.
Israel told the United States on Thursday it would be retaliating against Iran in the coming days, a senior US official told CNN.
“We didn’t endorse the response,” the official said, according to CNN.
There was no immediate comment from the White House about the Israeli strike.
In response to a query from AFP, the Pentagon duty desk said: “We do not have anything to offer at this time.”
Iran activated its air defense system over several cities, state media reported, after the country’s official broadcaster said explosions were heard near the central city of Isfahan.
Israel warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at its arch-foe over the weekend. Most of them were intercepted.
That weekend barrage came in the wake of an attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus widely blamed on Israel.
Tehran’s two major airports resumed flights on Friday, state media reported, following a brief suspension after explosions were heard in central Iran.
“Flights through Imam Khomeini and Mehrabad airports have resumed,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
Commercial flights began diverting their routes early Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as one semiofficial news agency in the Islamic Republic claimed there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan.
Some Emirates and Flydubai flights that were flying over Iran early on Friday made sudden sharp turns away from the airspace, according to flight paths shown on tracking website Flightradar24.
“Flights over Isfahan, Shiraz and Tehran cities have been suspended,” state media reported.
Iranian officials said its air defenses did shot down several drones but there had been “no missile attack for now” on the country.
The state-run IRNA news agency reported that Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning across several provinces after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan.
Several drones “have been successfully shot down by the country’s air defense, there are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian says on X.
The Fars news agency said “three explosions” were heard near the Shekari army airbase near Isfahan.
Iran’s local media also reported that nuclear facilities in Isfahan were “completely secure” after explosions were heard near the area.
“Nuclear facilities in Isfahan province are completely secure,” Tasnim news agency reports, quoting “reliable sources.”
Israel had said it would retaliate against Iran’s weekend attack, which involved hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria. Most of the Iranian drones and missiles were downed before reaching Israeli territory.
Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Isfahan, Isome 350 kilometers (215 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran, is also home to a major air base for the Iranian military.
Meanwhile in Iraq where a number of Iranian-backed militias are based, residents in Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.
In Syria, a local activist group said strikes hit an army position in the south of the country Friday.
“There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south.
Iranian military positions in Syria had been frequently targetted by Israeli air strikes over the past years. Early this month, an Israeli strike demolished a consular building annex of the Iranian Embassy in Sydia's capital Damascus, killing 13 people, including two generals of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, triggering the Iranian missiles and drones attack on Israel on April 13.
At the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, Iran urged member nations that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the UN secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”
Israel had said it was going to retaliate against Iran’s April 13 missile and drone attack.
Analysts and observers have been raising concerns about the risks of the Israel-Gaza war spreading into the rest of the region.
Oil prices and jumped on the reports of the Israeli strike. Brent crude futures rose 2 percent to $88.86 a barrel, the dollar gained broadly, gold rose 1 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 1 percent.
Israel’s assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local health ministry.
Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.
Hamas slams US veto of Palestinian UN membership bid
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian militant group Hamas condemned on Friday the US veto that ended a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership.
“Hamas condemns the American veto at the Security Council of the draft resolution granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations,” the Gaza Strip rulers said in a statement, which comes amid growing international concern over the toll inflicted by the war in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The veto by Israel’s main ally and military backer had been expected ahead of the vote, which took place more than six months into Israel’s offensive in Gaza, in retaliation for the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas militants.
Twelve countries voted in favor of the draft resolution, which was introduced by Algeria and “recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations.” Britain and Switzerland abstained.
Gazans search for remains after deadly Rafah strike
- ‘We retrieved the remains of children and women, finding arms and feet. They were all torn to pieces’
An Israeli strike hit the home where a displaced Palestinian family was sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, relatives and neighbors said as they scraped at the soil with their hands.
Al-Arja said the blast killed at least 10 people.
“We retrieved the remains of children and women, finding arms and feet. They were all torn to pieces.
“This is horrifying. It’s not normal,” he said, hauling concrete and broken olive branches from the wreckage. “The entire world is complicit.”
Soon after the war began on Oct. 7, Israel told Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move to “safe zones” in the territory’s south, like Rafah.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since vowed to invade the city, where around 1.5 million people live in shelters, more than half the territory’s population.
“How is Rafah a safe place?” said Zeyad Ayyad, a relative of the victims. He sighed as he cradled a fragment of the remains.
“I heard the bombing last night and then went back to sleep. I did not think it hit my aunt’s house.”
The search for remains was long and painful. The strike left a huge crater and children picked through the rubble while neighbors removed debris, tarpaulin, a pink top.
“We can see them under the rubble and we’re unable to retrieve them,” Al-Arja said.
“These are people who came from the north because it was said the south is safe.”
“They struck without any warning,” he said.
In a separate strike on the house in Rafah’s Al-Salam neighborhood overnight on Tuesday, rescue crews recovered the corpses of eight family members, including five children and two women, Gaza’s civil defense service said.
“An Israeli rocket hit a house of displaced people,” said resident Sami Nyrab.
“My sister’s son-in-law, her daughter, and her children were having dinner when an Israeli missile demolished their house over their heads.”
