DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards captured two Greek oil tankers on Friday in helicopter attacks in the Persian Gulf, officials said. The move appears to be revenge for Athens’ help in confiscating U.S. crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Mediterranean this week for violating Washington’s crackdown on the Islamic Republic.
The attack marks the first major incident at sea in months, as tensions between Iran and the West remain high over its torn nuclear deal with world powers. As Tehran enriches more uranium, closer to arms levels than ever, fears are growing that negotiators will not find a way back to an agreement that increases the risk of a wider war.
The guard issued a statement announcing the seizures, accusing the tankers of unspecified violations. Nour News, a website close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, warned earlier that Tehran plans to take “punitive action” against Greece by helping the United States seize oil days earlier from the Lana tanker. Iranian flag.
The Greek Foreign Ministry said it had made a strong démarche to the Iranian ambassador to Athens over the “forcible capture of two Greek-flagged ships” in the Persian Gulf. “These actions are in fact acts of piracy,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called for the immediate release of the ships and their crews, warning that the confiscation would have “particularly negative consequences” in bilateral relations and in Iran’s relations with the European Union, of which Greece is a member.
An Iranian helicopter landed on the Greek-flagged Delta Poseidon in international waters, about 22 nautical miles off Iran’s coast, the ministry said.
“Armed men then took the crew prisoner,” the statement said, adding that there were two Greek citizens among the crew.
“A similar incident was reported on another Greek-flagged ship carrying seven Greek citizens off the coast of Iran,” the ministry said.
A Greek official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the details of the attack with a journalist, identified the second ship as the Prudent Warrior. Her manager, Polembros Shipping in Greece, said earlier that the company was “cooperating with the authorities and making every effort to deal effectively with the situation”.
Greek officials did not identify the nationality of the other crew on board.
Both ships came from the Iraqi oil terminal in Basra, loaded with crude oil, according to tracking data from MarineTraffic.com.
A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said the two ships appeared to have approached – but not in – Iranian waters on Friday. After the abduction, they plunged into Iranian waters. The ships also turned off their tracking devices, another red flag, the official said. However, none of them have asked for help or called for help, the official said.
Friday’s seizure from Iran was the latest in a series of kidnappings and explosions that shook a region that includes the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which one-fifth of all traded oil passes. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
The US Navy has blamed Iran for a series of mine attacks on ships that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members in 2021.
Iranian hijackers also stormed and briefly captured a Panama-flagged asphalt tanker near the United Arab Emirates last year, and briefly detained and detained a Vietnamese tanker in November.
Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and the West has taken place in the region’s volatile waters. Tanker seizures have been part of it since 2019, when Iran detained the British-flagged ship Stena Impero after the United Kingdom detained an Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar. Iran released the tanker months later, while London also released the Iranian ship.
Last year, Iran also confiscated and detained a South Korean-flagged tanker for months amid a dispute over billions of dollars in frozen assets Seoul holds.
“This incident is assessed as a retaliatory action in line with the history of Iranian forces that detained ships in a way that is being delayed,” warned marine intelligence firm Dryad Global. “As a result, Greek-flagged ships operating in the vicinity of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman are currently assessed as being at increased risk of interception and it is recommended that this area be avoided until further notice.”
Emphasizing this threat, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim warned in a tweet: “There are still 17 other Greek ships in the Persian Gulf that could be captured.
The guard, meanwhile, is building a huge new support ship near the Strait of Hormuz as it seeks to expand its naval presence in waters vital to international energy supplies and beyond, according to satellite images from the Associated Press.
Negotiations in Vienna on Iran’s torn nuclear deal have stalled since April. Following the failure of the deal, Iran has modern centrifuges and rapidly growing reserves of enriched uranium. Non-proliferation experts warn that Iran has enriched enough purity to 60% – a short technical step from 90% weapons levels – to make one nuclear weapon if it wishes.
Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, although UN and Western intelligence experts say Iran had an organized military nuclear program until 2003.
However, building a nuclear bomb would take longer for Iran if it pursues weapons, analysts say, although they warn Tehran’s progress makes the program more dangerous. In the past, Israel has threatened to strike a preemptive strike to stop Iran – and is now a suspect in a series of recent killings targeting Iranian officials.
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Pafitis reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writer Amir Wahdat of Tehran, Iran, contributed to the report.
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