Iran oil tanker pursued by US turns off tracker near Syria

Dubai, Sept 3 (AP) An Iranian oil tanker pursued by the US turned off its tracking beacon, leading to renewed speculation on Tuesday that it will head to Syria. The disappearance of the Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as the Grace 1, follows a pattern of Iranian oil tankers turning off their Automatic Identification System to try and mask where they deliver their cargo amid US sanctions targeting Iran's energy industry.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated on Tuesday that Tehran will not enter into direct talks with the U.S. unless Washington rejoins the 2015 nuclear deal that President Donald Trump withdrew America from over a year ago. Trump's withdrawal and the imposition of heavy economic sanctions on Iran have blocked it from selling its crude oil abroad, a crucial source of government funding for the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, tensions have spiked across the Persian Gulf over mysterious tanker explosions, the shooting down of a U.S. military surveillance drone by Iran and America deploying more troops and warplanes to the region. The Adrian Darya, which carries 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude worth some USD 130 million, switched off its AIS beacon just before 1600 GMT Monday, according to the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com.

The ship was some 45 nautical miles (83 kilometers) off the coast of Lebanon and Syria, heading north at its last report. Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had alleged the US had intelligence that the Adrian Darya would head to the Syrian port of Tartus, just a short distance from its last reported position.

The actions of the Adrian Darya follow a pattern of other Iranian ships turning off their trackers once they reach near Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, said Ranjith Raja, a lead analyst at the data firm Refinitiv. Based on the fact Turkey has stopped taking Iranian crude oil and Syria historically has taken around 1 million barrels of crude oil a month from Iran, Raja said it was likely the ship would be offloading its cargo in Syria. That could see it transfer crude oil on smaller vessels, allowing it to be taken to port, he said.

"The Iranian oil going to Syria is not something new," Raja said. "This is a known fact." The oil shipment website Tanker Trackers similarly believes the Adrian Darya to be off Syria. "It is now safe to assume she is in Syria's territorial waters," Tanker Trackers wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Iranian officials haven't identified who bought the Adrian Darya's cargo, only that it has been sold. The US, which has sought to seize the tanker, alleged in federal court that the ship is owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary organization answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The US recently declared the Guard a terrorist organization, giving it greater power to pursue seizing its assets. (AP) NSA

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