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The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has seized an Israeli-owned container ship in the latest escalation of hostilities between the Islamic Republic and Israel.
The seizure of the ship comes as Tehran vowed to respond to a possible Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus this month that killed seven guard members, including two senior commanders.
A video posted online showed two people sliding from a helicopter down ropes onto the deck of the 366-metre-long MSC Aries container ship in the Gulf of Oman. The ship is owned by Zodiac Maritime, a company controlled by the Israeli Ofer family.
The official Iranian News Agency (IRNA) said that the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guard seized the ship.
The seizure took place in the Gulf of Oman, near the critical choke point in the Strait of Hormuz, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Iran.
Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world's largest container shipping line, confirmed that the ship had been seized by “Iranian authorities” and was owned by Zodiac.
The vessel was operating the MSC service from Khalifa Port, UAE, to Nhava Sheva in Mumbai.
“It has since been diverted from its itinerary towards Iran,” the company said. She added that the ship had a crew of 25 people on board. “We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their safety and safe return to the ship,” MSC said.
This is the first time the waters off Iran have been seized since January, when Iranian forces seized the Greek-owned oil tanker St. Nicholas in a similar situation.
The UK's Dubai-based Maritime Trade Operations Office said the ship had been “seized by regional authorities”.
A bulletin on the incident issued by Ambrey, a British maritime intelligence company, said Zodiac had faced “Iranian hostilities” in the past due to its Israeli ownership.
“We advise Israeli-owned shipping companies to reconsider crossing the Strait of Hormuz,” Embry wrote.
Iranian forces have previously focused on seizing oil and petroleum product tankers, rather than container ships.
There was no immediate comment from Zodiac.
The waters of the Strait of Hormuz, near where the MSC Aries was seized, are the world's most important route for oil tankers, transporting oil from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers to the wider world. It is also an important route for container ships heading to and from Khalifa and the huge container port at Jebel Ali in Dubai.
Container ships have mostly stopped sailing through the waters off Yemen since December, after the Iran-backed Houthis launched a series of attacks on ships linked to Israel, the UK and the US, claiming they were working to support Palestinians in Gaza. However, the route through the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been a major concern.
MSC Aries' automatic identification system went off the air shortly after the ship left Khalifa. Ships previously seized by Iran, including the St. Nicholas, are usually transferred to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
