Greek court blocks US seizure of Iranian oil cargo: Reuters

• 

Informed sources told Reuters that a Greek court overturned a decision allowing the United States to illegally seize Iranian oil on an Iranian-flagged tanker off the Greek coast.

Another legal source said that Iran had also appealed the original court decision.

According to the source, "The action for the reversal of the ruling was accepted by the court," indicating that "it will be hard to overrule that (the appeal court's ruling)."

Reuters said that "it was not immediately clear if the US or Greek governments would challenge the ruling, which was given in the Appeals court of the region of Chalkis," adding that the result of the appeal has not yet been made public.

"Strong objections"

It is noteworthy that the Iranian port authority had announced that Greek authorities impounded a ship carrying the Iranian flag and confiscated its cargo by court order in coordination with the US government.

The port authority added that the ship sought shelter in Greek ports to protect the safety of its crew but received no aid, noting that the ship was unloaded by the army, in a step that is considered a clear example of piracy.

Originally, the ship is Russian-flagged - named Pegas - but it changed its flag to an Iranian one to avoid EU and US sanctions over the Ukraine war.

The Pegas oil tanker, with 19 Russian crew members on board, was detected by Greek authorities on April 8 and seized under anti-Russian EU sanctions.

In the same context, Iran's state news agency IRNA confirmed that the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the chargé d'affaires of Greece's embassy in Tehran in regard to the matter and informed him of the Iranian government's "strong objections".

Iran's Coast Guard seizes two Greek oil tankers

Iranian media had reported that Iran's Coast Guard seized on May 27 two Greek oil tankers in the Gulf, the Delta Poseidon and the Prudent Warrior, off the coast of Aslaviyeh and Bandar Lengeh, citing "violations", which Greece condemned as "tantamount to acts of piracy."

Footage released by #Iranian media documenting the moment #Iran's Coast Guard seized two #Greek oil tankers. pic.twitter.com/iulItdmMF3

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 30, 2022

Iran's leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei had stated that the country's seizure of two Greek oil tankers was in reprisal for Greece "stealing" Iranian oil.

The seizure happened just two days after Greece announced that it will transport 115,000 tonnes of Iranian oil from a Russian-flagged tanker captured in April to the US at the request of the US Treasury and in accordance with the latter's sanctions system.

It is noteworthy that since withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran in 2018, Washington has sanctioned Iranian oil exports.

In 2020, Washington seized "four cargoes of Iranian fuel aboard foreign ships that were bound for Venezuela and transferred them with the help of undisclosed foreign partners onto two other ships which then sailed to the United States," Reuters highlighted.