After Greek officials cleared the discharge of the cargo, people familiar with the situation said on Friday that an Iranian-flagged tanker is unloading oil that was seized by the US earlier this year.
After Washington chartered a tanker in April to confiscate the oil onboard the Lana tanker, which had been anchored off Greece, there have been strained relations between Athens and Tehran amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States as a result of the case.
Iranian forces captured two Greek tankers in the Middle East Gulf in May due to the removal of oil from the Lana, formerly the Pegas. These vessels have not yet been released.
The Lana had been waiting to reload some of the oil consignment held on the Ice Energy tanker since late July. The tanker was chartered by Washington and was scheduled to depart for the United States when Greece’s supreme court ruled that the cargo should be sent back to Iran.
The move has begun, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the record.
According to a second source, the transfer procedure began on Friday and was anticipated to be finished soon.
Iran did not respond right away on Friday, despite earlier threats to take ‘punitive action’ against Athens for the seizure.
According to a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Washington was ‘respectful that this case went through the Greek judicial process’ in July.
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