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US Navy ‘looking into’ claim Iran seized 2 Greek oil tankers

Tehran threatened to take “punitive action” against Athens over seizure of one of its tankers

Published: Fri 27 May 2022, 8:31 PM

Updated: Fri 27 May 2022, 8:32 PM

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  • AP

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One of the ships in US Navy's Middle East based 5th Fleet. — File photo

One of the ships in US Navy's Middle East based 5th Fleet. — File photo

The US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet said on Friday it was “looking into” reports that Iran had seized two Greek oil tankers after Tehran threatened to take “punitive action” against Athens over a seizure of one of its tankers.

Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins of the 5th Fleet said that the Navy was continuing to investigate. He did not elaborate.

Iran’s Nour News website, close to its security services, made the threat just as shipping news site Lloyd’s List said it believed two Greek tankers had been seized in the Arabian Gulf.

The crude oil cargo of an Iranian-flagged tanker that was stopped in Greek waters last month has been seized and is being transferred to another vessel following a request from the United States, a Greek official said on Thursday.

The official said following a “judicial intervention by US authorities concerning the ship’s cargo” the process is currently underway, at US government expense, for the oil “to be handed over” off the port of Karystos on the Aegean Sea island of Evia.

The official, who asked not to be identified in order to discuss the case, did not provide further details. A Justice Department spokesman in Washington and the US Embassy in Athens declined to comment on Thursday.



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