17 Indians aboard Israeli cargo vessel seized by Iran
India in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels in Tehran and Delhi, seeking security and early release of Indian crew, say sources; Israel terms seizure a ‘pirate operation’
Indian officials said they were in touch with Iranian authorities after an Israelaffiliated container vessel MSC Aries was seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in the Gulf of Hormuz on Saturday. There were 17 Indians among the 25 crew members on board the Portugueseflagged vessel, including the Master of the ship, as well as four Filipinos, two Pakistanis, one Russian, and one Estonian, official sources said.
“We are aware that a cargo ship MSC Aries has been taken control by Iran. We have learnt that there are 17 Indian nationals on board. We are in touch with the Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the security, welfare, and early release of Indian nationals,” an official source said.
The vessel was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to India.
A video that went viral on ◣ showed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commandos rappelling from a helicopter onto the vessel. This is the latest escalation of tensions in the region, which has been on edge for the last few months, and also marks an escalation of the ongoing Red Sea crisis. Since the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Houthi rebels in
Yemen have been targeting Israelilinked commercial shipping on the high seas with ballistic missiles and drones.
In the last 48 hours, Israel and the United States have been gearing up for possible missile and drone attacks by Iran, directly or through its proxies in the region, as a retaliation against the recent air strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus that killed senior Iranian personnel.
In a post on ◣, Iranian staterun news agency IRNA quoted an informed source to confirm the seizure of the “foreign vessel” in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz. Other Iranian media reported that the vessel was the MSC Aries. The United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations agency also confirmed the incident.