Iran says tankers seized because Greece 'stole' oil

Iran's supreme leader on Saturday said that the country's seizure of two Greek oil tankers late last month was a retaliation against Greece because it "stole" Iranian oil.

The Revolutionary Guards boarded and took control of the two vessels in the Gulf on May 27, citing "violations", which Greece condemned as "tantamount to acts of piracy".

The seizure came two days after Greece confirmed it would send 115,000 tonnes of Iranian oil from a Russian-flagged tanker, seized in April, to the United States at the request of the US Treasury and in line with the latter's sanctions regime.

"The Iranian fuel was stolen off Greece, then the (forces) of the Islamic republic made up for that by seizing an enemy ship," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech.

Greek authorities had earlier seized the Russian-flagged ship, they said, to comply with sanctions introduced after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The Iranian maritime authority had described that move as "international robbery".