MNA – Iran’s Navy is ready to safeguard its recently-released oil tanker Adian Darya 1 if necessary, says the Deputy Coordinator of the Iranian Army Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

“The Islamic Republic’s Navy is ready to escort Adrian Darya 1 oil tanker if it is required by the country’s authorities,” Rear Admiral Sayyari said on Sunday.

He referred to the presence of Iranian Navy in Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying that the Islamic Republic’s naval forces have safeguarded over 6,000 vessels passing through international waters and are ready to escort Iranian vessels anytime and anywhere that is needed.

Last week, Commander of the Iranian Army's Navy Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi had also announced Iran’s readiness to escort the recently-released Adrian Darya 1 if needed, to protect it from any possible illegal measures by foreign forces.

The Iranian oil tanker, previously called Grace 1, left Gibraltar last week, after a month of being unlawfully detained by UK.

Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized the Grace 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on July 4 under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Tehran, however, rejected London’s claim that the tanker was heading to Syria, slamming the seizure as “piracy.”