Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship near the Strait of Hormuz

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Commandos from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli container ship with a helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday in the latest attack between the two countries.

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The seizure follows a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate this month that killed 12 people, including a senior Guard general.

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Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip has fueled decades of tension throughout the region. With Iranian-backed forces such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen also involved in the fighting, any new offensive in the Middle East risks turning the conflict into a wider regional war.

According to Iran's state-run IRNA agency, Special Forces of the Guard Navy attacked the Portuguese-flagged container ship MSC Aries, which is associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.

Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were on board.

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“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their safety and the safe return of the ship,” MSC said.

An Indian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said 17 of the crew were Indians.

According to IRNA, the Guardians will take the ship into the territorial waters of Iran.

A Middle East defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, provided The Associated Press with video of the attack, which showed Iranian commandos hitting a pile of containers on the ship's deck.

A crew member can be heard saying, “You can't get out.” He then tells his teammates to go to the ship's bridge as more teams descend. One commando can be seen kneeling over the others, providing them with potential defensive fire.

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The video matched what was known about the MSC Aries. The commandos also flew Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopters, which both the Guard and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have previously used to attack ships.

The British military's UK Merchant Marine Operations described the vessel as having been “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman near the Emirate's port of Fujairah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to designate the Guard as a terrorist organization.

Iran is “a criminal regime that supports the crimes of Hamas and is now conducting a piracy operation in violation of international law,” Katz said.

For days, officials up to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have threatened to “clap” Israel for striking Syria.

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Iran has engaged in a series of ship seizures since 2019, and the attacks on the ships come amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

In previous shipwrecks, Iran made initial comments about its operations to make the attacks seem unrelated to broader geopolitical tensions, but later admitted to doing so. However, Iran offered no explanation for Saturday's attack, other than to say that the MSC Aries was linked to Israel.

Iran has previously refrained from directly attacking Israel, despite the targeted killing of nuclear scientists and repeated sabotage campaigns against Iran's nuclear facilities. For decades, however, Iran has targeted Israeli or Jewish-affiliated sites through its proxy forces.

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Earlier this week, Guards General Ali Reza Tangsiri, who oversees Iran's naval forces, criticized the Israeli presence in the region and in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE reached a diplomatic deal with Israel in 2020, angering Tehran.

“We know that bringing Zionists here is not just for economic work,” Tangsiri said. “Now they are doing security and military work. It's a threat and it shouldn't happen.”

Tensions were also felt in Iran on Saturday, as officials denied false text messages sent on behalf of civil defense agencies. These messages called on people to “prepare drinking water and dry food” due to the “emergency situation” in the country.

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Despite growing concern over Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and injured more than 76,200, Israel's main backer, the United States, has stood by the country. Israel's war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

On Friday, President Joe Biden warned Iran not to attack Israel. “We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed,” Biden added.

The Gulf of Oman is close to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which one-fifth of the world's traded oil passes. Located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, Fujairah is the main port in the region where ships take on new oil cargoes, receive supplies or trade crew.

Since 2019, there have been several explosions and hijackings in the waters off Fujairah. The US Navy has blamed Iran for mine attacks on ships that damaged tankers. The UAE, seeking to restore relations with Iran, issued a statement condemning Israel's suspected attack in Syria.

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Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group on Saturday extended the suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran until Thursday and said its planes would bypass Iranian airspace. The German carrier also said flights to and from Amman would operate as “day flights” until at least Tuesday, so crews would not spend the night in the Jordanian capital.

Dutch airline KLM has announced that it will no longer fly through Iran or Israel, but will continue to fly to and from Tel Aviv. “Safety has the highest priority,” KLM said.

— Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, Stephen Graham in Berlin and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.

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