Greece's Ministry of Shipping made a strong recommendation to Greek-flagged ships to avoid Iranian waters as far as possible during their crossing in the Persian Gulf and in the Straits of Hormuz following the seizure of two Greek tankers by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).
According to sources from the Ministry of Shipping, the Prudent Warrior is anchored in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, while the Delta Poseidon currently remains in the same position in the Persian Gulf. Their crews remain on board and are in good health.
Meanwhile, yesterday the IRGC warned that they would proceed with seizing other Greek tankers in the Persian Gulf, if "Greece continues its illegal actions."
The warning came in the form of a leak to Iranian media, which noted that currently seventeen Greek ships are in the Persian Gulf and could also be seized.
At the same time, the background of the tanker Lana (formerly Pegas), which has been moored for a month and a half at the berth of Karystos, is very interesting. The seizure of its cargo sparked a diplomatic crisis, with Iran seizing two Greek-flagged tankers off its coast in response.
Officials directly involved in the case explain that the US embargo on Iranian oil is valid in the US, but not in the EU.
Therefore, they question the decision of the Court of First Instance of Chalkida to proceed with the seizure of 107,000 tons of Iranian oil at the request of the US Department of Justice.
This is a decision that, moreover, provoked the reaction of Tehran. The same information sources even revealed to Kathimerini that in the previous period, the danger of Iran retaliating in case Greece complied with the US request had been duly pointed out, despite the relevant legal restrictions.
Let's take things from the beginning.
The Lana sailed at the berth of Karystos on April 14. According to initial information, the tanker belonged to a Russian bank, which is one of the more than 800 entities that have been sanctioned since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An inspection, however, revealed that in mid-March, and certainly before its arrival in Karystos, the tanker had been transferred to the also Russian company Transmorflot, which has no sanctions against it.
Therefore, the order to seize the ship was lifted as the conditions for such a confiscation were not met.
With the possibility of allowing the departure of the Lana, the US Department of Justice sent a request for legal assistance on April 20, this time requesting the seizure not of the ship, but of its cargo.
The document specifically states that the Columbia District Attorney's Office, the FBI, and the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) are conducting an investigation into the shipment of Iranian oil due to fears that the proceeds will support a foreign terrorist organisations.
The request for legal assistance was forwarded to the competent Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs, before reaching the competent (due to Karystos) Court of First Instance of Chalkida for execution, ie to seize 100,000 tons of oil and transfer them to two other tankers.
"We are forwarding to you the urgent request for judicial assistance from the US Department of Justice from April 20, 2022, and please ensure that it is granted immediately," reads an official government that was seen by Kathimerini.
On May 20, respectively, the Court of First Instance of Chalkida with a document marked "Highly confidential" asked the Karystos Port Authority "to proceed with the delivery of the seized cargo from the ship" Lana to two ships chartered by the requesting US authorities."
Based on the above, the headquarters of the Greek Coast Guard also approved the transfer of Iranian oil to US-hired tankers, despite the fact that the transfer of oil from one ship to another is allowed for environmental reasons in only three places in the country: Lemnos, Preveza and Crete.
The information, in fact, states that pressure was exerted in order to reduce the objections of the head of the Port Authority on the specific procedure.
The transfer of Iranian oil from Lana to the tankers Ice Energy and Alkinoos started last week and is in progress.
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