George Chalos is not happy with a pro-Iran sanctions pressure group and its alleged influence in the Department of Justice.

Chalos, who leads Long Island-headquartered law firm Chalos & Co, said a letter from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) alleging sanctions-busting is the precursor to involvement from the US Department of Justice during a panel at the Connecticut Maritime Association conference on Thursday.

“It’s strange though that when the US prosecutors get involved, it never starts in the usual way a criminal process starts,” Chalos said of the letters from New York-based UANI.

He said the group is “sort of an NGO”.

“It’s definitely government-run. The ambassador Mark Wallace will send a letter and say, ‘We believe you’ve done bad things,’ then the dialogue starts. Then the Department of Justice gets involved.”

The group uses automatic identification data and satellite imagery to track ships carrying Iranian oil.

It often sends letters to the ship’s insurers and flag states notifying them of the alleged sanctions-busting and tracks the ship as they re-flag.

Wallace, its chief executive, is the former US ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform.

Chalos also questioned the US approach to sanctions enforcement, asking about its role as the “policeman of the world” and said the goal of blacklistings, according to officials themselves, was to enforce “a civil death”.

“More recently, quite disturbing to me, I heard a Department of Justice official say ‘We’re tired of those Greeks who don’t want to comply,’” he said. “Pretty obnoxious statement and pretty racist, in my opinion.”

The US has put pressure on Greek shipowners in the past for their dealings with Iran and Venezuela.

In September 2020, US officials said the country’s sanctions regime had convinced Greek owners it was no longer in their interest to carry Venezuelan gasoline.

Washington has also moved to seize multiple cargoes of allegedly Iranian oil aboard Greek-linked ships.

Chalos said the charters for the shipments of the supposedly contraband cargoes tend to be governed by English law, opening up various parties to potentially large legal cases in the UK.

“If you have a good-sized tanker loaded, that’s $200m-worth of cargo right there. Are the [protection and indemnity] clubs going to cover that? There’s no finding that it’s actually sanctioned cargo, it’s a letter from a former government official for a company that does not have a working phone number,” he said referring to UANI.

“[It is] very complicated stuff and very unfair.”

In response to Chalos’ comments, Wallace said if Chalos’ clients want to “clear the air on their smuggling efforts I am delighted to invite them to Washington … However, they should plan on an extended stay”.

“The best way for Greek shippers to avoid the legal and reputational consequences of smuggling Iranian oil is to stop smuggling Iranian oil,” he said in a statement to TradeWinds.

This story has been edited since first publication to clarify reporting.