Today, Friday, the Iranian navy seized two Greek-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf waters, in response to Athens' seizure of an Iranian oil shipment and the announcement of the start of procedures for its delivery to the United States.

According to local reports, the Iranian army is seizing two oil tankers flying the Greek flag, in response to Athens' seizure of an Iranian tanker and allowing the United States to confiscate crude from it.

The Revolutionary Guards said that Iran's navy had seized two Greek oil tankers in the Gulf waters.

And the "Associated Press" (Associated Press) quoted the US Navy as studying reports that Iran seized two Greek oil tankers.

Earlier, Iran demanded the release of an oil tanker belonging to it, after the Greek authorities seized it and announced its intention to hand it over to the United States of America.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the charge d'affaires of the Swiss embassy, ​​which looks after US interests in Tehran, in light of the severance of diplomatic relations between the two sides since 1980.

Athens had announced on Wednesday that it would hand over to Washington, which imposes sanctions on crude exports from the Islamic Republic, a load of Iranian oil on board the "Lana" tanker, which was seized by the Greek authorities in mid-April at the request of the American judiciary.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the Chargé d'Affairs was informed of "the Islamic Republic of Iran's strong concern and protest against the continued clear violation of international laws and standards for the law of the sea and relevant international agreements, especially the principle of freedom of navigation and free international trade, by the US administration."

It also stressed the need to "immediately lift the seizure of the ship and its cargo", without specifying its name or the nature of what it is carrying.

The Iranian oil shipment is being unloaded on another ship in preparation for its transfer to the United States (Reuters)

punitive measures

The semi-official "Noor News" website stated that Iran decided to take "punitive measures" against Greece due to the confiscation of an Iranian oil shipment off the Greek coast.

The Greek authorities had seized the Russian oil tanker "Pegas" (the name was changed a few days later to "Lana"), in implementation of the sanctions issued by the European Union against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In its statement on Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the ship "belongs to the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

However, the "Marine Traffic" website, which specializes in tracking maritime traffic, indicated that the ship is still legally under the Russian flag even after changing its name.

It was reported that the tanker was carrying 115,000 tons of Iranian oil.

The Greek authorities confirmed Wednesday that they would transfer the cargo to Washington at the request of an American court, in a move that Tehran considered evidence of "piracy."

A source in the Greek coast guard confirmed that the transfer of the cargo to a ship carrying the flag of Liberia began today, Friday, and will take "a few days."