Iran urges Greece to resolve two tanker issue without US involvement

Iran urged Greece to cooperate in resolving the crisis, after the capture of two Greek tankers by the IRGC in the Persian Gulf, without the participation of the United States.

In response to US Secretary of State reaction Anthony Blinken and to support Washington in Athens, the representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry asked the United States not to interfere in the affairs of other countries, reports cathimerini.

“Mr. Blinken must understand that the time when the United States unilaterally imposed its rules on the world is over,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, Reuters reported. He even called Washington “the biggest factor undermining free trade in the world.”

“Unfortunately the Greek government has shown that it is more important for it to receive orders from a third party. But we believe that relations between Iran and Greece should remain conscientious,” a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry told reporters. “I advise the Greek government, without inflating the scandal, to go to a solution on this issue by legal and judicial means,” he said, noting that health status crew members of Greek ships good, and they are on telephone connection with their families.

As is known, the hijacking of the two Greek ships on Friday came after Athens seized the Russian tanker Lana (formerly Pegas) carrying Iranian oil in April. According to the Greek authorities, the cargo was sent by Greek tanker to the United States, which imposed tough sanctions against Iran.

However, as it turned out, the decision of the court of first instance in Athens to seize 115,000 tons of Iranian oil from a Russian-flagged tanker was not entirely legal.

In comments cathimerini Athens officials say US embargo on Iranian oil is in effect in the United States itself, but not in the European Union and thus called into question the legality of the court’s decision. The same sources also told the publication that prior to the tanker incident, “the risk of Iranian retaliation was duly indicated if Greece continued to comply with the US request despite appropriate legal restrictions.” However, such warnings, they said, were not heeded.

As a result, after such treatment of its cargo, Tehran warned that it would take “punitive measures” against Athens, in connection with the confiscation of Iranian oil by the Americans from a tanker currently held in Karystos.

On April 19, the Lana tanker offloaded 115,000 tons of oil from the Iranian island of Sirri in the Persian Gulf for transportation to a Russian-controlled Black Sea port, in accordance with a bilateral agreement between Iran and Russia.

By the end of April, United Against Nuclear Iran, a bipartisan non-profit human rights organization in the United States, with the stated goal of “preventing Iran from realizing its ambitions to become a regional nuclear-weapon superpower,” issued a statement on the matter, and its head Mark Wallace urged Greece and the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proceed immediately with the confiscation of the oil tanker. As a “justification” for this, it was stated that Greece is a member EU and NATO, and therefore should contribute to the implementation of the sanctions regime against Iranian oil.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously warned that amid the escalating conflict over the confiscation of Iranian oil off the coast of Greece, new tankers of this southern European country, currently in the Persian Gulf, could be seized.

The IRGC announced on May 27 detention two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, a few days after the Iranian oil tanker was seized by Greece in its territorial waters, and the cargo on board was transferred to USA.

US and Greek diplomats called on Iran to immediately release Greek tankers, cargo and crews. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington stood by Greece “in the face of this unwarranted takeover.”

Earlier in the day MThe British Foreign Office issued a new statementwhich condemned the seizure of two Greek ships, adding that Iran’s actions pose a serious threat to the safety of navigation, and called on Tehran to immediately release the tankers and crews.

In a statement press service of the Central Committee of the KKE on the seizure of two Greek tankers by the Iranian armed forces, it is noted: “The seizure by the Iranian armed forces of two Greek tankers represents an extremely serious and dangerous development of events, especially as it seems to have been done in response to the confiscation of Iranian oil by the Greek authorities a few days ago, according to US instructions. The “standard-bearer” policy in the US-NATO plans, which the Greek government is pursuing on all fronts, including also sanctions against Iran, exposes the country and the Greek people to great danger, as evidenced by the fact of the seizure of Greek ships. The government must immediately take care of the release and safe return of the crew both courts.

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