The Indian government is in contact with Tehran through diplomatic channels to ensure the safety of 17 Indians on board a Portuguese-flagged ship seized by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, an official source said on Saturday.
“We know that Iran has taken control of the cargo ship MSC Aries. We know that there are 17 Indian citizens on board,” a source in the Indian Foreign Ministry told the Spanish agency Efe.
According to the same source, the Indian government is “in contact with Iranian authorities through diplomatic channels in both Tehran and New Delhi to ensure the safety, welfare and prompt release of citizens.”
India and Iran have maintained stable diplomatic relations since 1950, despite economic relations being dominated by New Delhi’s Iranian oil imports.
Tasnim, an agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced today that “a cargo ship linked to the Zionist regime [Israel]”was captured.
MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged cargo ship (registered in the Autonomous Region of Madeira) owned by London-based Zodiac Maritime Limited, part of the Zodiac group owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.
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 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.
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.
The Portuguese government said there were no Portuguese citizens on board and that it had already asked Tehran for clarification.