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Iran today summoned the Swiss envoy, who also represents US interests in Tehran, to protest the US seizure of a Russian oil tanker in waters near Greece, local authorities said.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry called for the immediate release of the ship and its cargo, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
The United States this week imposed sanctions on what it calls a Russian-backed trafficking and money laundering network on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
A spokesman for the US Department of Justice declined to comment on the maritime seizure, writes the Reuters network.
“The Islamic Republic expresses its deep concern at the continuing violations of international law and maritime law by the US government,” the IRNA news agency and other media outlets wrote.
IRNA added that the tanker had sought assistance off the Greek coast due to technical problems and bad weather, but the seizure of its cargo was “a clear example of maritime piracy.”
A source in the Greek transport ministry told the network Reuters that the US had informed Greece that the cargo on the ship was Iranian oil.
It is not yet clear whether the cargo was stopped because it is Iranian oil or because the ship has links to Russian transport companies.
Some sources told Reuters yesterday that the US plans to send the cargo to the US, aboard another vessel.
The Iranian-flagged carrier Pegasus is among five vehicles signaled by Washington as sanctioned by ties to Russian bank Promsvyazbank.
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