MNA – US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday he currently had no plan on his desk to seize the Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, despite earlier reports about US offering of cash to its captain to hand it over.







“We do not talk about plans, but currently I have no plan right now sitting on my desk to do such a thing,” Esper told reporters in London when asked if there was any plan to seize the ship, according to Reuters.

The remarks come after Iran warned the International Maritime Organization (IMO) over the recent US offering of cash to captain of Iranian ship 'Adrian Darya 1' in a bid to seize it.

The State Department confirmed on Wednesday that a senior US official personally offered several million dollars to the Indian captain of an Iranian oil tanker suspected of heading to Syria.

In reaction to the US failed attempt,Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted “having failed at piracy, the US resorts to outright blackmail — deliver us Iran’s oil and receive several million dollars or be sanctioned yourself.”

KI