A shipping firm accused by the West of being a front for Iran's national maritime company has stopped operating in northern Europe because of "problems" with the European Union, a senior company official said on Wednesday HDS Lines has cut its container shipping service between Europe and the Middle East, confining it to the Mediterranean.
"We have stopped serving northern Europe," Capt. Saeed Maghdadi, a senior official of the firm's European business, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "The main reason is because of the EU problems."
He declined to elaborate and other HDS officials were not immediately available to comment.
Alphaliner, a maritime industry intelligence provider, said HDS stopped the service because of tougher EU sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic for its nuclear work.
The United States and the EU have imposed strict sanctions against Iran, blacklisting dozens of the Opec member's military, industrial and shipping companies.
The US Treasury has accused HDS Lines of being a front company for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and prohibited all US transactions with the firm.
HDS says it is a private shipping company and is not involved in any illegal transportation of goods or any illicit activities.
The company's Europe-Middle East service consisted of seven ships of 2,500 to 3,400 twenty-foot equivalent units with port stops at Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Malta, Damietta, Misurata, Jeddah, Bandar Abbas, and Dubai, according to the company website.
"We have stopped serving northern Europe," Capt. Saeed Maghdadi, a senior official of the firm's European business, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "The main reason is because of the EU problems."
He declined to elaborate and other HDS officials were not immediately available to comment.
Alphaliner, a maritime industry intelligence provider, said HDS stopped the service because of tougher EU sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic for its nuclear work.
The United States and the EU have imposed strict sanctions against Iran, blacklisting dozens of the Opec member's military, industrial and shipping companies.
The US Treasury has accused HDS Lines of being a front company for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and prohibited all US transactions with the firm.
HDS says it is a private shipping company and is not involved in any illegal transportation of goods or any illicit activities.
The company's Europe-Middle East service consisted of seven ships of 2,500 to 3,400 twenty-foot equivalent units with port stops at Felixstowe, Hamburg, Antwerp, Le Havre, Malta, Damietta, Misurata, Jeddah, Bandar Abbas, and Dubai, according to the company website.