Police
in Gibraltar have arrested the captain and chief officer of the detained
Iranian Grace 1 supertanker accused of violating EU sanctions on Syria.
Documents
and electronic devices were also seized from the vessel during the operation.
Last
week, British Royal Marines boarded the tanker off Gibraltar and seized it on
suspicion that it was breaking EU sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
"The
investigation is still ongoing and the Grace 1 remains detained," police
said in a statement on Thursday.
The
two men, both Indian nationals, were arrested on Thursday afternoon and
interviewed.
Neither
has been charged, according to reports.
In
a statement, the Royal Gibraltar Police said the arrests followed a
"protracted" search of the vessel, which remains in detention.
The
arrests come after Iranian boats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the
Gulf.
Three
vessels, believed to belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, approached the
tanker while it was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
But
British warship HMS Montrose, which reportedly had its 30mm deck guns trained
on the boats, warned them off over radio.
A
Ministry of Defense spokesman said: "HMS Montrose was forced to position
herself between the Iranian vessels and British Heritage and issue verbal
warnings to the Iranian vessels, which then turned away."
"We
are concerned by this action and continue to urge the Iranian authorities to
de-escalate the situation in the region."
The
Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which is thought to have been operating the patrol
boats, denied the incident, saying if it had received orders to seize any ships
it would have done so immediately.
This
comes after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Britain would face
"consequences" over the seizure of an Iranian tanker.
The
Department for Transport this week raised its security level for British
shipping sailing in Iranian waters to its highest level, level three, meaning
an incident is considered to be imminent.
Vessels
were advised to take enhanced security measures and to avoid transiting through
Iranian waters if at all possible.
Foreign
Secretary Jeremy Hunt described the developments as "very concerning"
and said security in the region was kept under constant review.
"We
are constantly monitoring security and constantly keeping under review the kind
of security we need to keep British shipping safe," he said.
As
well as the Montrose, the Navy has four mine countermeasure vessels and the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay logistics ship in the region.
With
typically between 15 and 30 British-flagged merchant ships in Gulf waters on
any one day, providing individual escorts has been ruled out.
