TEHRAN/ISTANBUL: An Iranian government spokesman said an oil tanker pursued by the US has been sold to an unnamed buyer, along with its 2.1 million barrels of crude oil.
Ali Rabiei made the announcement at news conference on Monday in Tehran. He says the ship’s buyer will decide on the tanker’s ultimate destination.
Earlier on Monday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed the tanker is no longer recorded as heading for Turkey, after it switched its destination over the weekend.
The vessel, fully laden with oil, had previously been heading to the port of Kalamata in southern Greece but Greece had said it would not offer any facilities to the tanker.
Shipping data on Saturday had then indicated the vessel was to dock at the southern Turkish port of Mersin on Aug. 31.
On Monday, Refinitiv Eikon data did not specify any destination for the Adrian Darya. Its location is currently south of mainland Greece, west of the island of Crete.
The Adrian Darya, formerly called Grace 1, was released in mid-August from detention off Gibraltar after a five-week standoff over whether it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.
The United States, which says the tanker is controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, deemed a terrorist group by Washington, has told countries in the region not to assist it.
