Avenging the alleged Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus last week, Iran seized an Israel-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, April 13, an Iran-based news agency reported.
The report said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran boarded the MSC Aries from a helicopter and directed it toward Iranian territorial waters.
Responding to the incident, Israel stated that Tehran was conducting piracy and should be sanctioned for it, Reuters said.
“The Ayatollah regime of Khamenei is a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.
“I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now,” he added.
17 Indians onboard
Meanwhile, it is being reported that there are as many as seventeen Indians onboard the container ship.
Official sources said India is in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels, both in Tehran and in Delhi, to ensure the welfare and early release of the Indian nationals.
The Iranian action came amid increasing fears that Tehran may launch an attack on Israeli soil in retaliation for a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria 12 days ago.
“We are aware that the cargo ship ‘MSC Aries’ has been taken over by Iran. We have learned that there are 17 Indian nationals onboard,” said a source.
“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,” it said.
(With PTI inputs)
