Iran had secured British tanker Stena Impero for ten weeks. Meanwhile, the ship is free and has reached the port of Dubai on Saturday. The city in the United Arab Emirates lies directly across from Iran on the other side of the Persian Gulf. Iranian waters had already left the "Stena Impero" on Friday.
The Swedish shipping company Stena Bulk, which owns the ship, announced that the crew would first receive medical care as soon as it was ashore in Dubai. Then the members could travel to their families. The captain had previously assured that everyone on board was doing well in the circumstances.
Seven of the 23 crewmembers had already been released in early September, for humanitarian reasons, as Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said. The crew members who were still on board came from India, Russia and the Philippines.
Christopher Pike / REUTERS
"Stena Impero" arriving in the harbor of Dubai
Political conflicts fought at sea
Iranian Revolutionary Guards posted the "Stena Impero" in July in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The Revolutionary Guards accused the crew of the tanker of disregarding provisions of the law of the sea in the Persian Gulf. The legal investigations in the southern Iranian port city Bandar Abbas had lasted for 65 days according to data from Tehran.
Previously, British authorities had stopped Iranian supertanker Grace 1 on suspicion of illegal oil deliveries to Syria off Gibraltar. The ship was released in early August and has already left Gibraltar.
Relations between Iran and the United States and their allies have worsened since Washington dropped out of the agreement to stop an Iranian nuclear bomb last year. The agreements did not go far enough for the administration of President Donald Trump. He has since pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" on Tehran and imposed massive sanctions.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) called on Iran to speak with the US in a speech to the UN General Assembly (read more here).
