Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized an Israel-linked container ship in a helicopter raid near the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported, with tensions already high after Iran warned it would retaliate for an alleged Israeli attack to his consulate in Syria.
IRNA reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy seized the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, which is now being “directed back to Iranian territorial waters.”
According to IRNA, the vessel is managed by Zodiac Maritime, a company linked to Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) confirmed the seizure, stating that there are 25 crew members on board. Portugal's government said it was in contact with Iranian authorities.
The Strait of Hormuz, at the northern end of the Gulf of Oman, is the largest oil bottleneck in the world. Around 20% of the world's daily oil consumption passes through it every day.
Iran has carried out similar seizures before.
In January, Tehran seized an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman and transferred it to an Iranian port in response to the United States' seizure of the same ship and its oil last year.
Tensions in the region have risen following the attack on Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which killed seven employees, including a senior IRGC commander, and the seizure comes against the backdrop of the conflict in Gaza.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have frequently targeted shipping in the Red Sea area, although there have been regular exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel along Lebanon's southern border.
The United States currently expects Iran to carry out attacks against multiple targets inside Israel and that Iranian-linked groups may also be involved in carrying out the attacks, the sources say, in what would mark a major escalation.
President Joe Biden predicted Friday that Iran's attacks would come “sooner or later” and sought once again to issue a stern public warning, saying his message to Tehran was simply: “Don't do it.”
In a video statement released this Saturday, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari warned that Israel was on “high alert” for “Iranian aggression.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Tehran of piracy.
“Ayatollah Khamenei's regime is a criminal regime that supports Hamas' crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation that violates international law,” Katz said.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have seized a Portuguese civilian cargo ship, belonging to an EU member, claiming Israeli ownership.
The Ayatollah regime of @khamenei_ir is a criminal regime that supports Hamas' crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation…
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) April 13, 2024
“I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now,” he added.
European officials have warned against further escalation between Israel and Iran.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on social media platform X that he had spoken to Israel's war minister Benny Gantz.
The two discussed their “shared concerns about Iranian threats to attack Israel,” Cameron wrote, adding that “further escalation in the region is in no one’s interests and risks further loss of civilian life.”
Source: CNN Brasil

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