On April 19, the Greek authorities seized off the island of Evia a Russian oil tanker called Pegas (named after a few days changed to Lana), in implementation of the sanctions issued by the European Union against the backdrop of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
It was reported that the tanker was carrying 115,000 tons of Iranian oil.
On Wednesday, a Greek port police spokeswoman told AFP that “at the request of the American judiciary, oil must be transferred to the United States at the expense of this country.”
Tehran quickly protested strongly against this decision, describing the confiscation of the oil shipment as a “clear example of piracy.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not waive its legal rights, and it expects the Greek government to abide by its international obligations in the field of maritime navigation and shipping,” the Iranian Sea and Ports Organization said in a statement on its website.
On Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry, through the International Maritime Organization, asked the Greek government to release the tanker and its crew, stressing that the United States had “unloaded the cargo from the ship on Tuesday evening.”
The Greek authorities did not immediately respond to Tehran’s protests, nor did they provide further details about the unloading of the shipment and the date of its delivery to the United States.
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