The thriller continues with the two Greek-owned tankers after the "Guards of the Islamic Revolution", an arm of the Iranian Armed Forces. The "Prudent Warrior" and "Delta Poseidon" are being taken to the Iranian port of Badarrabas, where the oil they are carrying will be transfused, as reported on ERT's newscast last night.
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Elpida Veveyaki, mother of a 30-year-old sailor on board the ships spoke to OPEN. "We were contacted on Saturday afternoon for a very short time, the whole crew is fine. They have not been harmed. They don't know why this whole thing has happened, we expect the best. On Friday when they came in from the air with the helicopters they were all scared of course, suddenly seeing 18 armed people on board is not the best thing. They were terrified, they took their mobile phones and told them they were in charge, later they gave them back. They cut off all communication with relatives, there is no internet," he said."
And he continued: "They have them free inside the ship, they don't bother them, there are only 8 guards left inside. They have them anchored off Iran and they are tied up there. The ministry has not been contacted, we are talking to the company. Everyone is talking about retaliation, what will happen from there onwards nobody knows. They don't care about the people inside, they want the cargo."
The scenarios
The scenarios give and take, however, as it is said that the cruise attack on the two Greek ships is Iran's retaliation because of the blockade of the Russian ship Pegas to the east of Karystos last April.
We recall that the Greek authorities, following an order from the Authority for the Money Laundering of Criminal Activities on 19 April 2022 in the context of the sanctions imposed on Russia by NATO and the EU, blockaded the Russian tanker Pegas , which had 19 Russians on board as crew members, in the port of Karystos.
Three days later, the ship's managers produced official documents from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) showing that ownership of the ship had been transferred before the war to a company not subject to sanctions and the ship was released.
The Pegas was one of five vessels targeted by the US on 22 February - two days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began - as part of sanctions against the Russian bank Promsvyazbank, which Washington says plays a critical role for the Russian defence industry.
In its related wire last night, Iran's Nour News agency reported that "the seizure of the two Greek oil tankers is an act of retaliation as a result of the coordinated theft of Iranian oil by Greece and the United States," without specifically stating which fact justifies Iranian retaliation against Greece.
Source: newsbeast.gr
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