IRG Announces Capturing “Israeli” Linked Vessel near Hormuz.

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Tasnim news agency announced on Saturday that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards [IRG] has captured the “Israeli”-linked MSC ARIES container ship.

According to reports, the vessel was boarded close to the Strait of Hormuz.

A video first reported by The Associated Press showed commandos raiding a ship near the key waterway by helicopter.

The vessel involved was the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime. Zodiac Maritime is part of “Israeli” billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

The MSC Aries had been last located off Dubai heading toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.

A video showed the operation earlier reported by the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. It described the vessel as being “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah, without elaborating.

In the video, the commandos rappelled down onto a stack of containers sitting on the deck of the vessel.

Later, the IRG announced that the seized “Israeli”-linked vessel has been transferred to Iran's territorial waters.