Iran has seized two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf over what Iran alleges to be "violations" Friday, according to the IRGC news site Sepah News in a statement. What the violations were exactly was not specified.
Just days earlier Iran had announced that an Iranian vessel's crude oil had been seized by the United States, with assistance from Greece in the Mediterranean Sea due to a violation of sanctions from the United States on the Islamic Republic.
The Greek Foreign Ministry made some heated remarks to the Iranian ambassador in Athens, calling it a "violent taking over of two Greek-flagged ships" and saying that "These acts effectively amount to acts of piracy".
The foreign ministry has called for the immediate release of both tankers as well as their crews and warned that the seizure of the ships would have "particularly negative consequences".
As the Delta Poseidon floated in international waters around 22 nautical miles off of the coast of Iran an Iranian helicopter landed on the ship, and according to the Greek foreign ministry, "Armed men then took the crew captive", and said that two of the captives were Greek.
"A similar incident has been reported on another Greek-flagged vessel, that was carrying seven Greek citizens, close to the coast of Iran" it said.
Just days earlier Iran had announced that an Iranian vessel's crude oil had been seized by the United States, with assistance from Greece in the Mediterranean Sea due to a violation of sanctions from the United States on the Islamic Republic.
The Greek Foreign Ministry made some heated remarks to the Iranian ambassador in Athens, calling it a "violent taking over of two Greek-flagged ships" and saying that "These acts effectively amount to acts of piracy".
The foreign ministry has called for the immediate release of both tankers as well as their crews and warned that the seizure of the ships would have "particularly negative consequences".
As the Delta Poseidon floated in international waters around 22 nautical miles off of the coast of Iran an Iranian helicopter landed on the ship, and according to the Greek foreign ministry, "Armed men then took the crew captive", and said that two of the captives were Greek.
"A similar incident has been reported on another Greek-flagged vessel, that was carrying seven Greek citizens, close to the coast of Iran" it said.