Iran assures future release of crew of seized containership

The government of Iran is set to release all 25 crewmembers of a commercial vessel that local paramilitary forces seized earlier this month, the country’s foreign minister told local media.

Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the crew of the containership MSC Aries have been granted consular access and will be turned over to their respective embassies in Tehran.

However, no date has yet been provided on when the transfer of personnel will occur.

The Portuguese-flagged vessel was in the Strait of Hormuz some 80 kilometres off the coast of the UAE when it was boarded by Iranian heliborne troops on April 13.

Mr Amirabdollahian said the ship was seized for “violating maritime laws” and for its being linked to Israel. His Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, had earlier called out the boarding as “a pirate operation.”

The BBC earlier reported that the ship is managed by Switzerland-based MSC and owned by an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, the shipping company partly owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.

The detained crew includes Estonian, Filipino, Indian, Pakistani, and Russian nationals.