Amid Shadow War, Iran Captures Portuguese Vessel At the Strait Of Hormuz: Report (Image: x.com)As a shadow war looms in West Asia, Iranian forces have captured the Portuguese vessel MSC ARIES in the Strait of Hormuz, according to media house Al-Arabiyya. A video shared by The Associated Press showed commandos raiding a ship in the Strait of Hormuz by helicopters. The raid was reportedly carried out by Iran amid intensifying tensions in the region following the Islamic Republic’s warning of a retaliatory attack on Israel over April 1 attack on its Damascus consulate.
The vessel involved is reported to be the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime. Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. However, Neither MSC nor Zodiac have responded to the development.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) conducted the raid and seized the Israeli-linked vessel, according to report by Al Jazeera. “The ship has now been guided towards the territorial waters of our country,” Al Jazeera reported quoting Iran’s state-run IRNA.
The Portuguese flagged vessel had reportedly departed from a port in the United Arab Emirates and wan on its way to India. The soldier reportedly got down from a helicopter appeared to be a Soviet-designed Mil Mi-17.
According to Zodiac Maritime, MSC, an Italian-Swiss shipping group, was responsible for all vessel activities, and MSC has said that there were 25 crew members on board the ship. It further added that it is working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the crew’s safety and wellbeing, and the return of the vessel.
In November last year, another Israeli-linked container ship was inflicted by a drone in the Indian Ocean. The United States had blamed on Iran in the incident. However, with the rising tensions in the West Asia, the US is also reportedly moving its military assets to the region as it expects an imminent Iranian retaliation to Israel.