OREANDA-NEWS. The United States warned Greece and other countries of the Mediterranean basin about the consequences of assisting the crew of the Iranian tanker Grace 1, which, after permission to leave Gibraltar, is sent to this region. This was reported to the Russian media on Monday by a representative of the State Department press service.

"We saw reports that the Iranian tanker Grace 1, aka Adrian Darya, left Gibraltar and headed for the port city in the southwest of the Peloponnese Kalamata peninsula (Greece). We conveyed our decisive position to the Greek government on this issue, as well as all ports in the Mediterranean, which should be warned about supporting this ship", the diplomat said.

The US Foreign Ministry believes that the tanker was delivering Iranian oil to Syria in violation of the sanctions regime. “It's important for companies and seafarers to know that any assistance of this kind to tankers can be considered as providing material support to a foreign organization recognized as a US terrorist organization, which will lead to potential consequences in the immigration and criminal sphere”, the representative of the Department of State explained.

He recalled the position of Washington, according to which the Iranian tanker assisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC, the elite parts of the Iranian armed forces) by transporting oil from Iran to Syria. The United States put the IRGC on the list of terrorist organizations. According to the diplomat, the American authorities, in particular, can cancel entry visas for those who assist the tanker.

On July 4, it became known that the Gibraltar authorities detained the Grace 1 tanker under the flag of Panama. The British property administration claims that the ship delivered oil to Syria in violation of sanctions. On August 15, the Gibraltar Chronicle reported that a decision had been made to free the tanker. On August 19, the ship left Gibraltar.