Iran seeks $1 million guarantee money to release tanker

NEW DELHI: With the impasse over Iran's " illegal detention'' of an Indian ship continuing, the government on Wednesday described the situation as delicate. Iran is now learnt to have demanded $1 million as guarantee money for releasing MT DeshShanti which was on its way to India, carrying 140,000 tonnes of crude from Iraq, when it was detained in international waters by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 13.


The foreign ministry said despite intensive negotiations, the two countries were not able to resolve the situation. The detention of the ship and the manner in which it was forcibly taken to Bandar Abbas port had stunned Indian authorities who were left wondering why Iran had acted like that with the ship of a friendly country.

"Despite intensive discussions, we have not yet made progress,'' foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. "The matter is being pursued vigorously by our embassy in Tehran and I would like to seek your patience as we work towards a successful outcome in a delicate situation,'' he added.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an official of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) on Wednesday as saying that Tehran wanted the guarantee money as compensation for the environmental damage allegedly caused by the ship. Maintaining that the detention was purely a technical issue, Iranian authorities continue to insist that the ship caused "widespread pollution'' in Iranian waters on July 30, while it was on its way to Iraq.

The government on Tuesday sent technical staff of SCI to Iran to examine the ship and clarify to local authorities that the vessel had clearance from independent surveyors when it is supposed to have discharged oily ballast into Iranian waters. These officials, too, failed to convince Iranian authorities who say the ship was detained because there was an alert for it by the Bahrain-based Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC).

Iranian news agencies have quoted local authorities as saying that there were as many as eight technical issues with the ship and that even the device used for separating oil from water was not working.

While international sanctions have seen India's share of oil imports from Iran plummet from 10.5% to 7.2% in the last fiscal year, Indian officials cite the fact that the government has repeatedly said it will continue to import a significant amount of oil from Iran. Just a day before the ship was detained, finance minister P Chidambaram said in Parliament that India was considering steps to import more oil from Iran.

Iraq PM on 3-day visit from today

In the middle of the deadlock with Iran over the detained ship, Iraqi PM Nouri Al Maliki will start his three-day visit to India from Thursday. The government said the two countries are looking to sign an agreement for energy cooperation during what is the first visit at this level by leaders of either of the two countries in 38 years. Iraq has replaced Iran as the second largest supplier of crude to India whose oil imports from Iraq stand at $20 billion. Trade with Iraq too is booming with the annual volume increasing to $21 billion from $5 billion in 2006.