TEHRAN — Iran's
Revolutionary Guards seized two Greek oil tankers in the Gulf Friday, days
after Athens confirmed it would deliver to Washington Iranian oil it had seized
from a Russian tanker.
اضافة اعلان
"The IRGC naval forces today (Friday)
seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf due to violations that were
committed," the Guards — the ideological arm of the military — said in a
statement on their official website.
It did not elaborate on what the
"violations" were.
Greece swiftly accused Iran of
"piracy". The foreign ministry said Iranian helicopters had landed
commandos on the two tankers.
One of them, the Delta Poseidon, was sailing
in international waters at the time, the ministry said.
A spokeswoman for the Athens-based company
Polembros identified the second tanker as the Prudent Warrior.
"The ship has been seized by the
Iranian authorities. We have no communication with them at this time," she
told AFP.
The Greek foreign ministry said the second
tanker was near the Iranian coast when seized.
The ministry said nine Greeks were among the
crews of the two vessels, but did not give a number for the other sailors on
board.
Iran's action against the Greek-flagged
tankers marks a sharp escalation in a diplomatic row that has raged since
Greece seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker and its Iranian cargo last month.
Iran's foreign ministry demanded earlier
Friday that Greece release the vessel, saying the planned transfer of its cargo
to the US was a "clear violation" of international law.
Athens confirmed on Wednesday it intended to
send the 115,000 tonnes of Iranian oil from the tanker Pegas to the United
States at the request of the Treasury which overseas the enforcement of US
sanctions on Iran.
Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Swiss
charge d'affaires, whose country has handled US interests in Iran ever since
ties were cut between Tehran and Washington following the 1979 Islamic
revolution.
The ministry protested "the US
government's pressure and intervention" that led to the seizure of the
ship by Greek authorities last month.
EU member Greece said at the time it was
enforcing sanctions the bloc had imposed on Russia following its invasion of
Ukraine in February.
Iran accused the US of a "clear violation
of the law of the sea and the relevant international conventions" and
"called for the immediate lifting of the seizure of the ship and its
cargo."
A source in the Greek coastguard told AFP
the transfer of the cargo to a Liberian-flagged vessel for onward delivery to
the US had began on Thursday.
The operation is going to "take some
days", the source added.
The Iranian foreign ministry already
summoned the Greek charge d'affaires to protest the seizure on Wednesday.
The US reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran after then president Donald Trump pulled
out of a nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers in 2018. Its
once-lucrative oil exports are a major target.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
