Iranian Tanker Seized By Greece Finally Released

Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) mentioned on Tuesday that the Iranian-flagged tanker ship that was seized by Greece in April is being released and its cargo will be handed over to its owner, per the Mehr news agency.

With Iran’s prompt and authoritative actions, the government of Greece issued an order, and we are now the ship’s seizure is being lifted. The cargo is also being returned to its owner, the PMO informed Mehr.

The ship, earlier named Pegas and renamed Lana in March, had highlighted an engine issue in April. It set sail to the southern Peloponnese peninsula for offloading cargo onto a tanker, but rough waters of the seas moored it off Karystos where it had been seized, per the Athens News Agency.

A court in Greece has reportedly overturned a previous ruling last week that allowed seizure by the US of the Iranian-flagged tanker’s oil cargo off the coast of Greece, three sources that are familiar with the matter reported.

The incident resulted in angry responses from Iran, with the country’s forces seizing two Greece-based tankers in the Gulf after Tehran threatened that it would undertake “punitive actions” against Athens. This happened last month.