Concerns were raised over Iranian tanker Adrian Darya 1, formerly known as Grace 1, trying to attempt a dangerous sea-to-sea cargo transfer after being denied docking permission to refuel in Greece, was raised this week. The vessel attempted to dock in Greece after being released by Gibraltar officials who had detained the ship in the British overseas territory initially on suspicion of breaching EU sanctions. According to Iranian media outlets, Grace 1’s new name may have been inspired by Hadrian’s wall, which was built to keep out the Britons and the Celtic Picts.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration said it would enforce sanctions aggressively on the shipping sector if Adrian Darya 1 was offered assistance. A U.S. federal court ordered the seizure of the vessel hours before it was due to be released by Gibraltar, but that petition was rejected by Gibraltar.
French President Emanuel Macron met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday, ahead of the G7 summit to try to salvage the nuclear deal. Zarif told reporters on Thursday that Tehran was prepared to work on France’s nuclear agreement proposals but would not tolerate a U.S. naval mission in the Persian Gulf. The Trump administration launched a security mission to guard vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after a series of attacks and boat seizures in and around the world’s most important waterway for oil shipments.
And a new deck of playing cards has been issued by the U.S. military which features Iran’s arsenal of weapons. The deck includes missiles, tanks and drones. The cards were first featured in an article by the Federation of American Scientists. You can access the deck of cards here.
- Borzou Daragahi offered his vision of what a functional, effective deal with Iran would look like with Kayhan Life, and how to achieve it.
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- “Neither war nor negotiation” – Tehran’s conflicting approaches to the nuclear deal and its wait-it-out policy on America’s 2020 presidential election.
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- As tensions between Tehran and Washington increase, all eyes are on the Iranian government’s military expansion in the Middle East and Africa.
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- Iranians have a strong presence at the acclaimed Venice Biennale this year. Natascha Sadr Haghighian is one of several Persian artists making an impression.
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