TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Latest on U.S.-Iran tensions (all times local):
3:00 p.m.
A spokesman for the government of Gibraltar says that authorities are conducting investigations aboard the large tanker detained Thursday for allegedly carrying Iranian oil to Syria, but that no arrests have been made so far.
The spokesman, who asked not to be identified by name, said Friday that all 28 crew members remain on the vessel while being interviewed as witnesses and not questioned under criminal procedures.
The crew is made of mainly Indian, Pakistani and Ukrainian nationals, he said.
Iranian authorities have criticized the seizure of the supertanker by authorities in Gibraltar, assisted by the British Royal Marines for allegedly breaching European Union sanctions against Syria.
Spain said Thursday that the detention followed a request by the U.S.
However, the spokesman of the British overseas territory denied it on Friday and said Gibraltar acted independently.
Local newspaper Gibraltar Chronicle reports that the Grace 1 supertanker can only be detained for 72 hours unless the Supreme Court in the territory extends the deadline while the probe is conducted.
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Associated Press writer Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.
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1:55 p.m.
A former leader of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard says the Islamic Republic should consider seizing a British oil tanker in response to authorities detaining an Iranian oil tanker off the coast Gibraltar.
Mohsen Rezaei, who led the Guard during the 1980s “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf, wrote Friday on Twitter: “If England does not release the Iranian oil tanker, the duty … (of Iran) is to respond and seize one English oil tanker.”
Authorities in Gibraltar intercepted Thursday a super tanker believed to be breaching European Union sanctions by carrying a shipment of Iranian crude oil to Syria. Spanish authorities say the seizure came at the request of the U.S.
The seizure comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.