Maat Condemns Iran’s hijacking of Two Greek Oil Tankers in the Persian Gulf

Okeil: What Iran has done is a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms

Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights condemns Iran’s hijacking of two Greek oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, in violation of all international laws and norms. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard confirmed on Friday, May 27 2022 that its navy did seize two Greek oil tankers “for violations in Gulf waters”, giving no further details about the nature of the alleged violations. Therefore, Maat for Peace calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately release the seized tankers and protect their crews.

An Iranian navy helicopter landed on a Greek-flagged vessel coming from the port of Basra in southern Iraq, and took the crew hostage, whereas the other Greek tanker was intercepted by Revolutionary Guards while sailing in international waters on its way to Greece, as reported by Iranian media.

Maat confirms that the Iranian authorities’ attack on the two Greek ships is a crime of piracy, which the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines as: “any illegal act of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed: (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft; (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State.”

In this context, Ayman Okeil, the international human rights expert and president of Maat, stated that the Iranian authorities have no right to seize these ships, especially since they are civilian ships carrying oil materials. Hijacking these ships, Okeil added, is a blatant violation of the binding rules of the Sanremo Guide and Article 1 of the 1977 First Additional Protocol to the four 1949 Geneva Conventions which stipulates in its general principles and scope of application, the High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and enforce respect for this “Protocol” under all circumstances. Civilians and combatants remain in cases where it is not provided for in this “Protocol” or any other international agreement, under the protection and authority of the principles of international law as established by custom, the principles of humanity and collective conscience.

Therefore, Okeil called on the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations to hold an international conference on the development of a new international maritime treaty, that includes the rules of international law for defining the crime of maritime piracy, criminalizing the illegal acts that constitute it, prosecuting perpetrators, setting criminal provisions to punish them, and setting rules for international cooperation between all countries in order to take the necessary measures to eradicate this crime once and for all, especially in light of the repeated attacks by the Iranian authorities.

Okeil urges all international maritime organizations responsible for improving the safety and security of shipping and regulating navigation on the high seas to join efforts and work together to issue maritime regulations on securing navigation and maritime transport, protecting commercial ships from being exposed to acts of maritime piracy, and imposing sanctions on ships that do not participate or refrain from providing assistance in case of exposure to acts of piracy at sea.