Dhaka, Sept. 13 -- On the day speculation mounted over the course of the Adrian Darya 1, an Iranian oil tanker formerly known as the Grace 1, after it turned off its tracking beacon, the country's foreign minister Dr Javad Zarif was in Dhaka where he urged countries including Bangladesh not to bow to 'economic terrorism' by the United States government, and encouraged them to avail a number of alternative trading mechanisms that circumvent the US financial system to carry on trading with Iran - without falling foul of Washington's sanctions regime.

The tanker carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian crude worth some $130 million has since been spotted off the Syrian port of Tartus, precisely where it wasn't supposed to go when the Gibralt...