New Delhi. There are 17 Indian citizens on board a cargo ship belonging to Israel that was seized by the Iranian military. Official sources gave this information. This development has happened in the background of increasing tension between Iran and Israel. Sources said India is in touch with Iranian authorities in both Tehran and New Delhi through diplomatic channels to ensure the safety and early release of its citizens.
Iran took the step of seizing the ship amid growing fears that Tehran could attack Israeli territory in retaliation for the attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria 12 days ago. Sources said, “We know that the cargo ship ‘MSC Aries’ has been captured by Iran. “We have learned that there are 17 Indian citizens on board the ship.”
“We are in touch with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels in both Tehran and Delhi to ensure the safety, well-being and early release of Indian nationals,” he said. According to media reports, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the ship on Saturday morning while it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
It is being told that commandos of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard landed on a cargo ship with the help of a helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and seized it. There are 17 Indians among the 25 crew members on this ship belonging to an Israeli billionaire businessman.
Middle East is facing the threat of Iranian retaliation over a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate building in Syria earlier this month. 12 people including a senior Revolutionary Guard officer were killed in that attack. Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has entered its sixth month and is deepening decades-old tensions across the region. Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen are also involved in the fighting. Any new attack in West Asia would expand the scope of the conflict and turn it into a broader regional war.
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, a special unit of the Revolutionary Guard attacked the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries ship. It is a container ship belonging to London-based Zodiac Maritime. Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment about the attack. MSC later acknowledged the seizure of the ship and said there were 25 crew members on board. IRNA said the guards would escort the ship into Iranian waters.
Earlier, a defense official in West Asia shared a video of the attack with news agency Associated Press. It can be seen in the video that Iranian commandos are landing on the ship from the helicopter. A crew member of the ship can be heard in the video telling his colleagues, ‘Don’t come out.’ At the same time, a commando can also be seen giving ‘cover fire’.
The video matches the known description of the MSC Aries ship. The helicopter used in the attack appears to be a Soviet-era Mi-17 helicopter, which has been used by both the Guard and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in commando raids on ships in the past.
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Tags: Iran, Israel
FIRST PUBLISHED: April 13, 2024, 22:01 IST