The head of the Swedish shipping firm that owns the British-flagged oil tanker held by
Iran since July said Tuesday the Stena Impero was still in Iranian waters, a day after Iran said the vessel was free to move.
Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted the head of the country's marine and ports authority Mohammad Rastad as saying the tanker "will soon" leave Iranian waters but that the time of its departure depended on finalizing "legal" procedures.
"Despite public statements by Iranian authorities over the past three days that judicial proceedings have concluded, and the Stena Impero is free to leave Iran, the vessel remains detained at anchor in Bandar Abbas," Hanell said in a statement Tuesday evening.