Iranian forces repelled from a helicopter onto the MSC Aries ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and diverted it to Iranian waters. The shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company,in an announcement on Wednesday that the crew members “are safe and discussions with the Iranian authorities are in progress to secure their earliest release.”
The MSC chartered the ship, owned by Gortal Shipping, which is an affiliate of the shipping company Zodiac Maritime that is partially owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.“Seizing a civilian vessel without provocation is a blatant violation of international law, and an act of piracy by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,”National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson posted on X.
Israel is considering how it will respond to the unprecedented attack — because Iran launched it from within its own borders for the first time — while a number of its allies have urged them to show restraint instead of retaliating and threatening to start a full-scale war between itself and Iran.