Originally Posted by
unclenelli
Easy diplomatic solution:
Detain the GRACE 1 crew in Gibraltar and let them go through due legal process for breaching sanctions, then...
1. Fly out a new crew to take the ship back to Iran, full, or
2. Sell the fuel to a neutral country at baseline market price (without transportation costs), then the second crew take empty ship back to Iran. (But, the quantity of cash being carried on GRACE 1 would attract the attention of pirates around the Horn of Africa area = not our problem!!! - Send your speedboats out there!)
The first crew would likely try to claim asylum, get rejected and be home with family soon enough.
No legal basis for sanctions in the first place. Iranians kept to their agreement. UK doing what Washington told them like a good lap dog.