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Iran on Friday called on Britain to immediately release an oil tanker it had seized in Gibraltar, accusing it of acting at the request of the United States.
The Foreign Office said in a statement that a senior Foreign Ministry official described the British step as "unacceptable" in a meeting with the British ambassador, who was summoned to inform him of the official protest, according to the agency "Agence France Presse."
"He called for the immediate release of the tanker, given that it was detained at the request of the United States, based on information currently available."
The Gibraltar government said on Thursday it had detained the tanker on suspicion of carrying crude oil to Syria in a process that a legal source said could be the first of its kind under EU sanctions.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macier, to consult on the detention of the tanker in the Straits of Gibraltar.
"After an Iranian oil tanker was stopped at the Strait of Gibraltar by the British naval forces, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador in Tehran now following this incident," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a tweet on Thursday.
"The seizure of an Iranian tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar by British naval forces is illegal," Moussaoui said.
According to Reuters, "said Josep Borrell, Acting Foreign Minister of Spain, on Thursday, that the Government of Gibraltar detained the giant" Grace 1 "at the request of the United States of Britain.
Borell added that Spain was considering the reservation of the tanker and the possible impact on its sovereignty, as it appears to have happened in Spanish territorial waters.
Spain does not recognize British sovereignty over the waters around Gibraltar.
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