The International Court of Tehran has upheld a lawsuit filed against the United States by Iranian citizens suffering from epidermolysis bullosa and not receiving necessary medications due to sanctions imposed by the United States; the court ordered the confiscation of a cargo of American oil that a year ago was transported in the Persian Gulf by the ship Advantage Sweet, Iraqi media reported.
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Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of rare hereditary genetic diseases. The skin of patients with EB is very vulnerable, so even light touching it or rubbing clothes causes blisters to appear, leaving behind wounds. This feature of the disease, when the patient’s skin is vulnerable, like the wings of a butterfly, led to the appearance in the language of such patients as “butterfly people”.
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Against the backdrop of sanctions from Western countries and especially the United States, which prevented the Swedish company from selling medicines needed by the “butterfly people” and caused them serious physical and psychological harm, patients… filed a complaint against the United States in the 55th branch of the International Court of Justice in Tehran. On this basis, after a series of legal procedures by the lawyer in the case, the court ultimately ordered the seizure of the American oil cargo of the Advantage Sweet in the Persian Gulf, and the cargo of this vessel was confiscated.
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At the end of April last year, the US Navy Central Command announced that the oil tanker Advantage Sweet, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, was captured in the Gulf of Oman by the naval forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite units of the Iranian Armed Forces).
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The US Navy argued that Iran’s actions “contradict international law and violate the security and stability of the region.” The US Navy said that “harassment of ships by Iran” poses a threat to maritime security and the global economy. Iran illegally seized at least five merchant ships in the Middle East over a two-year period (2021-2023), according to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet’s Advantage Sweet.
