By Al-Fassel | 2024-04-15

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized an Israel-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, with the ship's operator, the Italian-Swiss group MSC, confirming Iranian authorities had boarded it.

Both Israel and the United States denounced the seizure of the MSC Aries as piracy, with Israel also demanding that the IRGC be declared a "terrorist organization" by the European Union (EU).

The ship was seized in Gulf waters "near the Strait of Hormuz" and "this ship has now been directed towards the territorial waters" of Iran, AFP reported.

MSC said there were 25 crew members on board and that it was "working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel."

Iranian authorities offered little information about why the IRGC seized the ship, but on April 15 claimed the vessel had violated international maritime law and was undergoing "necessary investigations."

The ship's crew failed to "adequately respond to questions from Iranian authorities," foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a briefing.

'A pirate operation'

Responding to the seizure, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X that Iran had conducted "a pirate operation in violation of international law."

"I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the IRGC as a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now," he added.

The White House on April 13 called on Iran to immediately release the ship.

"We call on Iran to release the vessel and its international crew immediately," said National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

"Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the IRGC," she said.

According to vessel tracking websites vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com, MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged container ship and gave its last reported position as in the Gulf.

'Testing the limits'

Analyst Karim Bitar of the Institute for International and Strategic Affairs in Paris said the seizure of the vessel may have been "a first step towards a wider escalation" that later saw Iran fire more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel.

"It would mean that the Iranians are going to progressively test the limits of the United States and of the Israelis," he said, hours before Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles.

The Israeli military said nearly all of them were intercepted, with help from its allies, including the United States.

US forces "successfully engaged and destroyed more than 80 one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles and at least six ballistic missiles intended to strike Israel from Iran and Yemen," US Central Command said on X on April 14.

Iran's proxies, the Houthis, have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, and in November seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel, the Galaxy Leader. The crew are still being held.

In January, Iran seized a ship off the coast of Oman, boarding the Greek-owned St Nikolas before later releasing the crew members.