Iran's IRGC Seizes Israel-Linked Container Ship Near Hormuz ...

Patrick Sykes and Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized an Israel-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman on Saturday, the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

IRGC special forces boarded the MSC Aries from a helicopter and directed it toward Iranian territorial waters, the Islamic Republic News Agency said, without giving a reason for the seizure.

The seizure comes as Israel braces for a response to the suspected Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy in Syria on April 1. Potential scenarios included an unprecedented drone and missile strike on Israeli territory as early as this week, Bloomberg reported. Tehran signaled to western countries that it would retaliate to strike on its embassy in Syria in a “calibrated” manner to avoid an all-out regional conflict, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Read More: Israel Bracing for Unprecedented Direct Iran Attack in Days (3)

The MSC Aries’ beneficial owner is Zodiac Maritime Ltd., part of Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A representative for Zodiac directed queries about the vessel to operator MSC, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The UK’s Joint Maritime Information Center said the ship was likely targeted due to its perceived Israeli affiliation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the seizure a “pirate operation in violation of international law,” in a post on X.

The MSC Aries last called at the United Arab Emirates’ Khalifa Port and was sailing east toward the Strait of Hormuz as of Friday evening local time. Security and intelligence firm Ambrey Analytics said it received information of a “boarding” around 50 nautical miles northeast of the UAE’s Fujairah.

Zodiac’s ships have been repeatedly targeted in attacks in the same area in recent years that the US and Israel have blamed on Iran. Tehran previously denied involvement. Most recently, an airborne object hit the Campo Square oil tanker in the Arabian Sea in Feb. 2023.

The head of the IRGC’s naval forces, Alireza Tangsiri, said on Tuesday that Iran has the option of blocking the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions with Israel but chose not to. Around a fifth of the world’s daily oil supplies passes through the strait. 

--With assistance from Charles Capel and Alex Longley.

(Adds UK and Israeli comment from fifth paragraph, Iranian official in last paragraph.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.