Fresh off of the US targeting a series of companies involved in an Iran-linked oil smuggling network, the US has now seized an oil tanker near Greece, taking the Iranian oil within to be sent to the US.
The oil was on a Russian-operated ship, which had been singled out for US targeting in February. It was then called the Pegas. The company renamed the ship the Lana. Greece had impounded the Pegas and its Russian crew last month over the invasion of Ukraine, but ultimately released it.
Neither the US nor Russia is commenting. Greece says the US informed them the oil was Iranian, and that the US hired a different ship to take the oil to America. Iran has summoned the Greek charges d’affaires and called the incident a “clear example of piracy.”
The US accused the tanker of loading 700,000 Bbls of oil from Iran in August 2021. The tanker mostly carried oil to China.
The seizure of the tanker, and oil, comes amid tensions on the ongoing nuclear talks. Iran believes, and not unfairly, that the oil was just stolen from them, and the US position, while yet to be public, is that the oil is now theirs.
It’s not a great precedent, but generally Iran can’t do much about it, and the US is keen to have the oil.
It is piracy.
Sorry Tikabass, you said it first and I copied you! 😉
Yep. Here we go again, another act of piracy. We also want to sanction countries that purchase Iranian product, just like we want to sanction countries that purchase Russian product.
It’s Washington’s idea of energy policy.
What is the legal basis for doing this?
None. To do so there has to be a formal declaration of war against the party seeking to ship product. Same for sanctions against Russian citizens in the form of taking assets, unsavory they may be. Illegal.
I think we can call it ‘piracy’…
No, piracy would be illegal, and we don’t do illegal stuff. Therefore, it’s not piracy.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one. We don’t lie about WMD. We don’t lie about hellfire missiles that killed 50 women and children. Pure as the driven snow, we are.
Iran Can return the favor and seize a Greek tanker in Persian Gulf…!
the US exports about the same amount of oil that it imports so if US really was keen to have that oil then they would simply stop exporting oil. but in reality it is chevron’s oil not america’s oil and we can’t cut into chevron’s pockets can we.
Iran needs to arm its ships. Heavily. An approaching vessel that seeks to steal the product needs to be hit and hit hard. Video the confrontation and send the signal to every news venue.
You were prophetic.
Car jackers will be car jackers.
Why should Somali pirates have all the fun ?
Somali pirates come from small, dirt poor tribes.
Oh so THIS is the ‘rules-based international order’ I’ve heard so much about. Is there some sign-up list so I can become a pirate as well?
Eventually, somebody is going to seize a tanker full of LPG exported by the US. When that happens, international discussion about the legality of such secondary sanctions (the oil was seized because it originated in Iran) might be taken seriously.
Being an empire is not enough, gotta add some piracy into it right? What the fish cakes is our government doing?
Iran can’t do much about it? Not a very good analysis or memory. Iran always gets the payback. Always. Remember the anglish commandos 😂😂😂😂. They longer the wait. The greater the payback. This time it was 2 for 1. Next time will be worse. Nobody likes their oil being taken. Not nato kunts. Not Iranian or Russian kunts either. And you all know how vindictive kunts can be.
In response Iran seized two Greek tankers full of Iraqi oil.
In the old days, this was authorized by our own government by “letters” issued to private parties to seek “reprisal.” That goes back to Elizbethan times, done by all European powers and the new US.
So Iran takes reprisal. That is an old norm. Of course they do.
The end result of this would spin out to end the world’s oil trade out of the Persian Gulf.
Before it got to that, powers dependent on that oil like China and India would step in. The US is playing with a world of opposition.