British-flagged tanker Stena Impero heads out of Iran waters – report

A British-flagged oil tanker, which had been held near the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months, has set sail, AFP said, citing a specialist shipping website report on Tuesday.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei had announced on Monday that “the legal process has finished” and the Swedish-owned vessel was free to leave.

This morning’s satellite imagery reveals that the Stena Impero is no longer anchored at its previous location, TankerTrackers website tweeted.

The ship’s seizure was seen as a tit-for-tat move after authorities in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar detained an Iranian tanker earlier in July on suspicion that it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions. Tehran has denied the two cases are related.