Iranian marines detained two Greek tankers in the Gulf on Friday, just days after Tehran threatened Athens with ‘punitive action’ following the US seizure of Iranian oil from a vessel off the Greek coast.
‘The Revolutionary Guards Navy today seized two Greek tankers for infractions in Gulf seas,’ according to an IRNA report citing a Guards statement. It provided no additional information and did not specify the purported infractions.
According to Greece’s foreign ministry, an Iranian naval helicopter landed on the Greek flagged Delta Poseidon, which was travelling in international waters 22 nautical miles from the Iranian shore, and kidnapped the crew, including two Greek citizens.
It said a similar occurrence occurred near Iran on another Greek-flagged ship, without naming the ship, and that both actions violated international law, and that Greece had alerted its friends and reported to Iran’s ambassador in Athens.
Delta Tankers, located in Greece, which operates the Delta Poseidon, could not be reached for comment immediately.
Due to European Union sanctions, Greek officials confiscated the Iranian-flagged Pegasus, which had 19 Russian crew members on board, near the shore of the southern island of Evia last month.
According to Reuters, the US later confiscated the Iranian oil cargo carried onboard and plans to transport it to the US on another vessel.
The Pegasus was eventually freed, but the seizure heightened tensions at a sensitive time when Iran and international powers are attempting to resurrect a nuclear deal that Washington abandoned under former President Donald Trump.
Earlier on Friday, Nour News, an Iranian official security agency, tweeted: ‘Following the seizure of an Iranian ship by the Greek government and the transfer of its oil to the Americans, #Iran has decided to take severe action against #Greece.’
It did not specify what measures Iran will take.
The Pegasus was one of five ships targeted by Washington on February 22 – two days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – for sanctions against Promsvyazbank, a bank considered important to Russia’s defence sector.
It was unclear if the cargo was detained because it was Iranian oil or because the vessel was sanctioned owing to its Russian connections. The United States has imposed separate sanctions on Iran and Russia.
It did not specify what measures Iran will take.
The Pegasus was one of five ships targeted by Washington on February 22 – two days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – for sanctions against Promsvyazbank, a bank considered important to Russia’s defence sector.
It was unclear if the cargo was detained because it was Iranian oil or because the vessel was sanctioned owing to its Russian connections. The United States has imposed separate sanctions on Iran and Russia.
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