Iran to Unload Crude from Seized Tanker Advantage Sweet

Iran will unload about $50 million worth of crude from a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker seized last year, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday, in a tit-for-tat action against the United States.

Advantage Sweet is a Suezmax crude tanker that had been chartered by U.S. firm Chevron and was seized in April 2023 by Iran's army following an alleged collision with an Iranian boat.

The unloading of the cargo follows a Tehran court order in favor of Iranian patients of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease, who had filed a lawsuit against the "severe physical and mental harm" caused by the non-provision of Swedish-made medicine, which is said to be caused by U.S. sanctions according to the lawsuit.

The report did not specify whether Iran's seizure of the tanker's oil will contribute to the EB patients.

In August 2023, a cargo of Iranian oil was unloaded off the coast of Texas from the Suez Rajan, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker seized by the U.S.

This same tanker, under the name of St Nikolas, was seizedin the Gulf of Oman by Iran's Navy earlier this year following a court order.

(Reuters - Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; editing by Jason Neely and Louise Heavens)