According to the government statement, Portuguese authorities are closely monitoring the situation and maintaining contacts with Iranian leaders.
“This is the Portuguese-flagged cargo ship MSC Aries (registered in the Autonomous Region of Madeira), owned by Zodiac Maritime Limited, based in London,” the statement said.
Unlike Portugal, the Israeli army this Saturday refused to comment on the approach of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helicopter to a Portuguese-flagged ship allegedly linked to Israel in the Persian Gulf.
“No comment,” said an Israeli military official interviewed by EFE, after Tasnim, an agency linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, announced that “a cargo ship linked to the Zionist regime [Israel]”was arrested.
The incident comes amid tensions caused by an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on the 1st of this month, which killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guard. Meanwhile, Iran has vowed to retaliate and the United States warned of a possible response from Tehran over the weekend.
The seized container ship is linked to Zodiac Maritime, part of the Zodiac Group, with a fleet of more than 180 ships and headquartered in Monaco, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.
The vessel left Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and headed to Nhava Sheva, India, with its latest position taken on Friday at the exact same location near the Strait of Hormuz where it was seized.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA today acknowledged the attack on the ship after reports of an attack on the same ship believed to have been carried out by the Revolutionary Guards, an Iranian paramilitary force that has carried out similar attacks in the past.
The incident was initially reported by the UK Commercial Maritime Operations Agency (UKTMO), whose source shared video of the same attack with the AP.
According to the AP, the video shows troops exiting a helicopter and storming a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz (between the Persian and Oman Gulfs).
UKTMO said images showed at least three people “quickly” seized the cargo ship.
Zodiac Maritime AP declined to comment on the situation.
Since 2019, Iran has been accused of involvement in several robberies and attacks on ships in the Gulf of Oman, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil trade passes.
Tensions marked over the past six months by the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have recently risen following the April 1 bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, which killed senior Iranian military officials and was blamed on Tel Aviv.
Author: morning Post This Lusa
Source: CM Jornal

I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.