Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Iranian forces seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf: State media

Iranian forces seize two Greek tankers in the Gulf: State media

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they seized two Greek oil tankers in Arabian Gulf due to ‘violations’ that were committed.

Iranian forces seized two Greek tankers in the Gulf on Friday, Iranian state media reported, shortly after Tehran warned it would take “punitive action” against Athens over the confiscation of Iranian oil by the United States from a tanker held off the Greek coast.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) said in a statement on their official website on Friday that they seized two Greek oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf “due to violations that were committed.” The statement did not elaborate on what the “violations” were.

Greece responded by accusing Iran of “piracy” after the IRGC said they seized two Greek-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf Friday.

“These actions are tantamount to acts of piracy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, warning Greek citizens to avoid travelling to Iran. It said it had strongly protested to the Iranian ambassador in Athens against the “violent” seizure.

The move came amid a dispute between the two nations about the fate of an Iranian oil cargo on board a Russian-flagged tanker that was seized in Greece in April.

Athens said Iranian navy helicopters had landed armed men on the two tankers earlier on Friday.

One of them, the Delta Poseidon, was sailing in international waters at the time, the ministry said.

A spokeswoman at the Athens-based company Polembros identified the second tanker as the Prudent Warrior.

“The ship has been seized by the Iranian authorities. We have no communication with them at this time,” she told AFP.

The Greek foreign ministry said the second tanker was near the Iranian coast when seized.

The ministry said nine Greeks were among the crews of the vessels, but did not give the number of other sailors on board.

Athens has informed the European Union and the International Maritime Organisation of the incident, the ministry said.




Escalating tensions


On Wednesday, Greece said it would send 115,000 tonnes of Iranian oil from the tanker seized in April to the United States at the request of the US Treasury, which oversees the enforcement of sanctions on Iran.

Iran’s foreign ministry demanded earlier on Friday that Greece release the vessel, saying the planned transfer of its cargo to the US was a “clear violation” of international law.

Athens has linked the tanker seizure in Greece to sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.

The Iranian foreign ministry earlier this week summoned the Greek charge d’affaires to protest.

Iran’s foreign ministry also summoned the Swiss charge d’affaires, whose country has handled US interests in Iran ever since ties were cut between Tehran and Washington following the 1979 revolution.

The ministry protested “the US government’s pressure and intervention” that led to the seizure of the ship by Greek authorities last month.

EU member Greece said at the time it was enforcing sanctions the bloc had imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Iran accused the US of a “clear violation of the law of the sea and the relevant international conventions” and “called for the immediate lifting of the seizure of the ship and its cargo”.

The row over the tanker has taken place against the backdrop of tense efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the US and several other world powers.

The US reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran after then-President Donald Trump pulled out of a nuclear agreement between Tehran and major powers in 2018.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
×