A last-minute US warrant to seize an Iranian oil tanker preparing to leave Gibraltar after weeks of detention cast doubt over its departure on Saturday, prolonging a diplomatic spat between Tehran,
London and Washington.
The US
Justice Department alleged the ship was part of a scheme "to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments to
Syria from
Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," which
Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organisation.
There was no comment from
Britain or Gibraltar, its overseas territory.