Washington, Aug 17 (TIWN) The US Justice Department has issued a warrant to seize a detained Iranian oil tanker, the Grace 1, a day after a judge in Gibraltar ordered it to be released, the media reported on Saturday.

The Grace 1 supertanker, which is carrying 2.1m barrels of oil, was detained on 4 July on suspicion of illegally transporting oil to Syria.  A last-minute legal attempt by the US to keep the tanker detained was rejected by Gibraltar on Thursday.  Iran previously called the detention of Grace 1 an "illegal interception".  Gibraltar orders release of Grace 1 Iran, tankers and the Gulf crisis explained Two weeks after Grace 1 was detained, on 19 July, Iran seized the British flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz.  Although Iran claimed the ship had violated "international maritime rules", the seizure of Stena Impero was widely believed to be an act of retaliation.