Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned as one-sided and unjustifiable the statements issued by Germany and France over releasing the two seized Greek tankers in the Gulf.
Tehran strongly denounces the issuance of one-sided and unjustifiable statements, which seem to have become a constant habit for these countries, the spokesman said, as quoted by Mehr news agency.
“We advise these countries to uphold legal proceedings based on international laws to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security, instead of misguidedly defending violations committed by Greek ships,” Khatibzadeh said.
“Unfortunately, these countries remain silent in the face of the illegal seizure of the Iranian-flagged ship by the Greek authorities and the unloading of its cargo in accordance with the transnational law and regulations of another country,” the Iranian diplomat said.
“Such inappropriate interventions in the independent judicial processes of our country will not help to resolve the issues,” he stressed.
As Iran has told the Greek authorities, it is appropriate for the competent authorities of Iran to resolve the issues through legal and judicial means, he noted.
Germany condemned the seizing of the two Greek-flagged oil tankers, describing Iran’s actions as “an unjustifiable interference in commercial shipping and therefore constitute a severe violation of international regulations.”
France also claimed in a statement on Sunday that Iran’s seizure of two Greek-flagged oil tankers in the Persian Gulf waters is a “violation of international law”, calling for the immediate release of the ships.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the Greek tankers in the Persian Gulf on Friday, days after Athens confirmed it would deliver to Washington the Iranian oil it had seized from a Russian tanker.
Iran said Saturday the crews of two Greek oil tankers were in “good health” and not under arrest.
“The IRGC Navy on Friday seized two Greek tankers due to violations in the waters of the Persian Gulf. The two ships were detained, one near Assaluyeh and the other near Bandar Lengeh near the island of Hendorabi. Both ships, named “Prudent Warrior” and “Delta Poseidon” were sailing under the Greek flag and were seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy Force,” IRGC’s Public Relations Department said in a statement.
Source: Iranian media
