Naval commandos from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used helicopters to board and seize the container ship close to the Strait of Hormuz, state information company IRNA reported. It added that the MSC Aries was being transferred to Iranian territorial waters.
Video from state information community Press TV confirmed folks utilizing ropes to fall onto the ship. NBC News was unable to independently confirm the footage.
IRNA introduced that the Portuguese-flagged ship is operated by Zodiac Shipping Company, which has ties to an Israeli businessman. Zodiac mentioned in a press release that the ship is managed and operated by UK-based transport firm MSC.
NBC News has reached out to MSC for remark.
In response to questions from NBC News, the Israeli authorities mentioned it had no touch upon the seizure of the ship. However, Iran’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz mentioned on the X program that Iran was “presently partaking in piracy in violation of worldwide regulation.”
Israeli army spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari mentioned in a separate assertion on Saturday, which was not in response to the occasions unfolding within the Strait of Hormuz, that Iran “will bear the implications of selecting to escalate the state of affairs additional.” It will occur,” he mentioned.
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“Israel is on excessive alert. We have stepped up our preparations to guard Israel from additional Iranian aggression. We are additionally prepared to reply.”
The assault adopted an assault believed to be carried out by Israel in opposition to the Iranian consulate within the Syrian capital Damascus earlier this month. Israel didn’t take accountability for the assault, however the Iranian authorities vowed revenge.
Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the chief of the Quds Force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite international spy group, was killed within the explosion. He is probably the most senior Iranian official to be killed since General Qassem Soleimani was focused in a US airstrike in 2020.
Five army advisers to Iran’s extraordinarily highly effective army and political group, the Revolutionary Guards, have been additionally killed within the assault. Although Israel and Iran have averted direct battle for years, the Revolutionary Guards have helped Iran wage a shadow battle in opposition to Israel throughout the Middle East.
After the assault, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei mentioned at a prayer service marking the top of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on Wednesday, April 10, that Israel “should and shall be punished.” He mentioned this amounted to an assault on Iranian soil, because the constructing destroyed was a consulate constructing.
The United States has expressed help for Israel and sought to steer Iran to halt critical escalation. While ramping up criticism of the way in which Israel is pursuing its battle in Gaza, President Joe Biden vowed that “the United States’ dedication to Israel’s safety in opposition to these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”
Since Hamas’s lethal terrorist assault and mass hostage-taking on October 7, and the next full-scale Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which killed greater than 33,000 folks and pushed the inhabitants to the brink of hunger. , tensions within the area have reached a boiling level. .