Illustrative image. (The Mehr News Agency)
Update: the vessel reportedly seized by Iranian authorities was identified as the Portuguese-flagged MSC ARIES which is managed by Zodiac Maritime, a company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.
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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a detachment of the Royal Navy, warned on April 13 that a vessel may have been boarded by a “regional authority” near the Strait of Hormuz.
The incident took place 50 nautical miles northeast of the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah port, the organizational side in a warning notice, adding that authorities were investigating.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” the notice reads.
Later, the Associated Press said that it received a video showing commandos raiding a ship near the Strait of Hormuz by helicopter. A Middle Eastern defense official who provided the video to the news agency attributed the raid to Iran. The video in question has not been published yet.
Though the AP could not immediately verify the video, it corresponded to known details of the boarding and the helicopter involved appeared to be one used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Persian Gulf and nearby waters witnessed in recent years a series of ship seizures by Iran. U.S. attempts to enforce sanctions on Iran provoked many of these seizures, which were more of a reaction by Tehran.
The new incident came amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran over the April 1 Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which claimed the lives of 13 people, including senior commanders and members of the IRGC.
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