Nearly one year after Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker, Advantage Sweet, for allegedly colliding with an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman, Tehran has announced intentions to confiscate the tanker’s cargo. The oil, valued at approximately $50 million and destined from Kuwait to Texas, U.S., is now targeted as compensation in the backdrop of “crippling American sanctions” against Iran. The Tehran Court of Justice’s ruling, as reported by the Mizan news agency on March 6, aims to use the proceeds from the oil sale to aid patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a condition severely affected by the sanctions, particularly due to inhibited access to essential medications.
The case, brought forward by the Iranian NGO EB Home, accuses U.S. sanctions of causing “severe emotional and physical damage” to over 300 EB patients by blocking a Swedish company from exporting necessary treatment to Iran. The NGO has labeled the sanctions as “criminal and unilateral.” In response, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller criticized the court’s decision, demanding the immediate release of the tanker and denouncing Iran’s maritime interference as a threat to global security and economy.
Iran’s assertive action against the Advantage Sweet, carrying oil for Chevron to the U.S. port of Houston, escalates tensions further, especially after the U.S.’s seizure of the Suez Rajan, another tanker with sanctioned Iranian oil. The ongoing conflict not only underscores the strategic importance of the Gulf’s waterways but also highlights the profound impact of sanctions on Iran’s healthcare system, exacerbating the plight of “butterfly” patients, who suffer from the debilitating effects of epidermolysis bullosa, amidst an already challenging economic and medical landscape. Watch clip here.
