As per the judiciary’s statement on Wednesday, Iranian authorities have seized the American cargo of an oil tanker that was confiscated last year, attributing the action to US-led sanctions that obstructed the delivery of medication to the Islamic Republic.
During April 2023, the Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet was apprehended while sailing through the Gulf of Oman, a significant corridor for the oil industry.
According to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website on Wednesday, a Tehran court has issued an order for the seizure of the American oil cargo aboard the Advantage Sweet, with the cargo’s estimated value exceeding $50 million.
It was not immediately clear when the court order was issued.
It said the oil seizure was in retaliation for “the sanctions of Western countries, especially the United States which led to the prevention of the sale of drugs needed for epidermolysis bullosa patients”.
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Iran has been under crippling US sanctions since Washington’s 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal.
In a 2021 report, United Nations experts cautioned that “over-compliance” with the sanctions had affected people suffering “from a severe and life threatening rare skin condition, epidermolysis bullosa, which causes extremely painful wounds”.
The report came following the halt of shipments to Iran by a Swedish bandage company which reportedly offered the most effective treatment for the disease, according to the UN.
The Gulf of Oman has seen a string of hijackings and assaults over time, with Iran often implicated.
The US military announced in January that Iran was holding five ships and over 90 crew members hostage from vessels seized nearly a year ago.