Iran says tankers seized because Greece 'stole' oil
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Iran's leader explains that seizing the Greek ships was in response to the US-dictated theft of Iranian oil.
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Iran says tankers were seized because Greece 'stole' oil.
Iran's leader stated on Saturday that the country's seizure of two Greek oil tankers late last month was in reprisal for Greece "stealing" Iranian oil.
IRGC members boarded and seized the two vessels in the Gulf on May 27, citing "violations", which Greece condemned as "tantamount to acts of piracy," although it was Greece that initiated the seizure following an intervention by Washington, as a result of which the cargo of the Iranian-flagged ship in Greek water was seized to be taken to the oil-thirsty US.
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.
Read more: Iranian media document seizure of two Greek tankers (footage)
"The Iranian fuel was stolen off Greece, then the brave (forces) of the Islamic republic made up for that by seizing an enemy ship," Iranian leader Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech marking the anniversary of the death of Imam Ali Ruhollah Khomenei, who founded the Islamic Republic, in 1989.
"It's you who stole our oil," Khamenei said, addressing the country's "enemies".
On his part, the head of the Mediterranean and East European affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry had stated that Greece's "unacceptable" surrender to "illegal" US pressures was "an example of international piracy," as was the "seizure of the cargo of the ship" flying the flag of Iran.
Likewise, the Iranian marine administration called the US-instigated Greek move "international robber".
The United States, Germany, and France all urged Iran to release the ships. According to Athens, Iranian navy helicopters dropped IRGC soldiers onto the two tankers to carry out the seizures.
Greek authorities claim they detained the originally Russian-flagged ship in order to comply with sanctions imposed following Russia's operation in Ukraine in February, but it seems they deliberately left out that the tanker's new owner, TransMorFlot LLC, a Russian maritime shipping company, at the time was not included in the sanctions list.
It was only after the seizure that the US State Department imposed new sanctions on May 8 that targeted Russian maritime-related companies, including TransMorFlot LLC, which led to blocking the company's 16 vessels.
Here is how it all started: Greece seizes ship sailing under Iranian flag
Last month, a source told Al Mayadeen that Greek authorities had been impounding a ship sailing under the Iranian flag since 20 April.
The tanker, which had been sailing under the Russian flag since April 8 changed its flag, sailing under Iran's, knowing that the European Union, unlike the US, has not imposed sanctions on Iranian oil.
A Greek source said that following a “judicial intervention by U.S. authorities concerning the ship’s cargo” the process is underway at the US government's expense, without providing any valid reason.
According to Reuters, it remains unclear whether the oil was seized for carrying Iranian oil or due to anti-Russian sanctions, but one fact cannot go unnoticed; the oil-thirsty US is willing to do anything to quench its thirst.
