The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy has seized a cargo ship linked to Israel that was sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Iranian news agency Tasnim.
“Sources have reported that the ship is the Portuguese-flagged ‘MSC ARies’, a container freighter linked to the London-based company Zodiac Maritime. Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group has part ownership of Zodiac Maritime”, reported Tasnim, considered the news agency of the Revolutionary Guard, the elite military and ideological body of the Iranian Armed Forces.
This information has been published after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) confirmed that “regional authorities” had seized a cargo ship sailing between the coasts of Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The Italian-Swiss shipping company MSC has confirmed that the ship has been boarded by Iranian authorities and that there were 25 crew members on board. “We regret to confirm that the ‘MSC Aries’ (…) has been boarded by the Iranian authorities with a helicopter while crossing the Strait of Hormuz,” she said in a statement reported by the Al Jazeera network.
“It had 25 crew members on board. We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their well-being and the safe return of the ship,” he added. Al Arabiya television sources suggest that the crew were Filipinos.
According to British authorities, the incident occurred approximately just 70 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz that separates Iran from the Emirates.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has already assumed that Iran has the ship in its possession in what he described as an act of piracy and has demanded that the international community declare the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist entity.
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has seized a civilian cargo ship, belonging to a member of the European Union, which they say is the property of Israel,” Katz said.
“Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime is a criminal regime that first supported Hamas and now engages in pirate operations in violation of international law. I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization and “Sanction Iran right now,” he said on his X social network account.
