ΑΤΗΕΝS – A Greek Appeals Court overturned a previous court ruling which led to Greece aiding the United States in seizing Iranian oil from a vessel in Greek waters, which led to Iran taking two Greek ships and warning it would detain more.

There was no report whether the new court ruling was an indication that the Greek government was backing down to Iran in the face of the threats or whether the US would try to appeal, which the court said would fail.

Three sources not named told the news agency Reuters of the decision that was kept secret and came after Iran had appealed the earlier decision.

“The action for the reversal of the ruling was accepted by the court,” the source said. “It will be hard to overrule that (the appeal court’s ruling,”) but with no explanation for why the court reversed the previous ruling.

Greece had called Iran’s seizure of the two Greek tankers in the Gulf “piracy” and Greek shipping oligarchs at their Posidonia 2022 convention in Athens had asked for support from the world sector and international community.

The incident which sparked the brouhaha was in April when Greek authorities, following US sanctions, impounded the Iranian-flagged Lana, formerly Pegas, with 19 Russian crew members on board, off the coast of Evia.

The ship was soon released due to complications regarding its ownership, the report noted, adding that the US in May confiscated part of the Iranian oil cargo held onboard and transferred it to another ship, after the first Greek court ruling.

In a separate case, Greek authorities later seized Lana again, acting on an interim court order over alleged debts to another shipping company, represented by lawyer George Kozanidis, the news agency said.

Kozanidis declined to disclose the name of the company he represents but told Reuters that the case is related to unpaid towing services. It wasn’t clear whether Iran, following the new ruling, would release the two Greek ships it detained.