The Greek diplomatic authorities are focused on Iran after yesterday’s announcement by Iran that the Greek sailors from the Greek-owned tankers seized by the Guards of the Revolution, are in good health and are not in custody.
«The crew of the two Greek tankers has not been arrested and all the crew members are in good health and are being protected and provided with the necessary services while on board the ships, in accordance with international law.“, Noted the state Ports and Shipping Organization of Iran in a statement transmitted by the Tasnim agency.
It is said that The communication between the Ministry of Shipping and the two ship-owning companies has been fully restored.
In fact, the Greek authorities are in a diplomatic fever in order to release crew members.
After all, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the first moment made intense protest action to the Iranian ambassador in Athens noting that “These acts are essentially equivalent to acts of piracy”. The Secretary General of the ministry, Themistoklis Demiris, Strongly condemns these acts, which are contrary to fundamental rules of international law and international navigation. He called for the immediate release of the ships and their crews.
However, Iran’s move is attributed in retaliation to Athens for the seizure of a shipment of Iranian crude oil transported by a Russian tanker on April 15 off the coast of Evia and the decision of Greece on Thursday, May 26 to send the cargo to the United States.
The Foreign Office reaction
The reaction was also strong of British Foreign Officewho pointed out that «the seizure of Greek ships by the IRGC (Guards of the Islamic Revolution) is unacceptable. “The United Kingdom is committed to the freedom of navigation and the safety of shipping in the Straits of Hormuz.”.
It is worth noting that in July 2019 and Britain faced similar problems when the Revolutionary Guards captured two British oil tankers: the Stena Impero and the Mesdar. The second they released him almost immediately following instructions from the Iranian authorities. The Stena Impero though, since “The legal procedure was followed and the necessary investigations began”, according to the Guards of the Revolution, it was confiscated because “it did not comply with the international maritime regulations”.
Britain, like other Western countries, has argued that the seizure of Stena Impero was retaliation for seizure of Iranian Grace 1 super tanker near Gibraltar 15 days ago. The British then accused Grace 1 of violating EU sanctions against Syria.
Finally the Stena Impero released two months later, in September 2019.
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