rferl.org/ – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
The vessels were seized a day after Athens assisted the United States
in seizing an Iranian oil tanker over alleged sanctions violations.
The press service of the IRGC said on May 27 that it had seized the
Greek ships “due to violations” that were not specified, according to
the Tasnim news agency.
The U.S. Navy said earlier that it was looking into reports that Iran
seized two Greek tankers after Tehran threatened to take “punitive
action” against Athens over the seizure of its tanker.
Greece said the actions were “tantamount to acts of piracy.” The
country’s Foreign Ministry also warned Greek citizens to avoid traveling
to Iran.
News reports on May 26 quoting Greek sources said that the United States
had confiscated Iranian oil held on a Russian-operated ship near the
Greek island of Evia in the Aegean Sea.
An unidentified Greek official quoted by the Associated Press said the
process of turning over the oil began after a “judicial intervention by
U.S. authorities concerning the ship’s cargo.”
The vessel was temporarily seized by Greek authorities on April 15 when
it anchored off the port of Karystos on Evia. At the time, it was flying
a Russian flag and was carrying a crew of 19 Russians.
The Greek Coast Guard said it was seized due to suspicions that it had
breached EU sanctions imposed against Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
It was unclear whether the oil was confiscated because it was Iranian
oil subject to U.S. sanctions or whether the action was due to the
sanctions on the tanker, which recently changed its name from Pegas to
Lana and which has been flying the Iranian flag since May 1.
A source at Greece’s Shipping Ministry quoted by Reuters said the U.S.
Department of Justice had “informed Greece that the cargo on the vessel
is Iranian oil.”