Maritime authorities in Greece have referred to as for worldwide assist to launch the crews of two oil tankers that have been seized by Iranian forces final week.
The Delta Poseidon and Prudent Warrior have been seized by the nation's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps within the Persian Gulf final week in a tit-for-tat transfer.
Dramatic footage displaying armed IRGC officers descending onto the deck of one of many vessels from a helicopter was broadcast on Iranian state TV on Monday.
Greek Service provider Marine Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis described the incident as a risk to the safety of delivery and commerce. "We name on all nations to behave to place an finish to this unacceptable incident and be sure that it doesn't occur once more," he stated on Friday.
On Thursday, the Greek Coast Guard and unbiased monitoring companies stated the 2 tankers have been moored on the Iranian port of Bandar. At the least 9 Greek nationals and one Cypriot have been on board.
Tehran has said that the crews have been in "good well being" and had not been detained.
The transfer got here simply days after Athens introduced that it will hand over a reported 700,000 barrels of Iranian crude from a Russian-flagged tanker it impounded in April over to the US.
The Russian vessel, which tried to change its flag to Iran on the eleventh hour, was seized attributable to international sanctions linked to Russia's struggle with Ukraine. US and EU sanctions additionally bar international locations from shopping for Iranian petrochemical merchandise.
Each Germany and France's overseas ministries have additionally condemned the seizure of the Greek tankers and referred to as on Tehran to launch the ships with their crew. The Iranian authorities referred to as the statements "biased" and "inappropriate interference".
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