DUBAI: The Iranian tanker Adrian Darya 1 is still delivering oil to Syria, despite Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s promises to Britain, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.
In a tweet, Pompeo shared a satellite image of the tanker near the Syrian coast, accusing Iran of breaking its assurances not to sell crude oil to the country, after it was previously detained on July 4 by British forces for breaching European Sanctions.
Pompeo added in the tweet: “Will the world hold Iran accountable if this oil is delivered to Syria?”
Despite Iran FM Zarif’s promise to the UK that the #AdrianDarya1 would not deliver oil to Syria, it is now transferring oil off the Syrian coast. Will the world hold Iran accountable if this oil is delivered to Syria? pic.twitter.com/z5Ra41n43u
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) October 2, 2019
Gibraltar released the tanker, previously named Grace 1, weeks after receiving written assurances from Iran that it would not deliver its 2.1 million-barrel cargo of oil in Syria.
Britain’s Foreign Office said the tanker had sold its crude oil to the Assad regime and that the oil had been transferred to Syria.
Iran’s envoy to Britain has since denied the accusations, saying the tanker’s cargo was sold at sea to a private company. He also said the private buyer of the oil “sets the sale destination.”
Pompeo’s tweet came weeks after the US State Department said it had evidence the ship had offloaded its crude oil to Syria.
“The Iranian regime delivered oil to Syria, and that fuel goes straight into the tanks of troops that are slaughtering innocent Syrians,” US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters.
(With Reuters)
