Foreign Minister Hossei Amirabdollahian of Iran recently announced that the crew of a container ship flying the Portuguese flag, which was captured by the Islamic Republic and connected to Israel, should be released. The MSC Aries container ship was seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13. This incident occurred shortly after Tehran threatened to retaliate for a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus. Amirabdollahian expressed his concern over the humanitarian issue of the crew’s release in a phone call to his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel.
The crew, consisting of 25 members, will be handed over to their respective diplomatic representatives in Tehran soon, although the exact timing was not specified. According to Amirabdollahian, the MSC Aries was seized for violating maritime laws, and there was no doubt about its connection to Israel. The ship is chartered by MSC from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. In another maritime incident, a ship was damaged by multiple missiles during an attack off the coast of Yemen. The attack, claimed by Houthi rebels, took place south-west of the Yemeni port of Mokha. The UK Maritime Trade Operations Security Agency (UKMTO) reported that the first explosion near the ship was felt by the crew on board
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