The United States on Saturday called on Iran to “immediately” release a ship it seized, accusing it of being “linked” to Israel, and President Joe Biden cut his weekend short for urgent consultations on the “events in the Middle East”, amid rising regional tensions.
• Read also: Israel prepares for ‘direct’ attack from Iran in next 24-48 hours
• Read also: Deadly strikes in Gaza, Israel on alert after threats from Iran
• Read also: Beijing calls on Washington to play a “constructive role” in the Middle East
Iran seized this container ship on Saturday near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the sea routes most used by merchant shipping. However, the Iranian authorities did not indicate whether this operation was linked to their recent threats of reprisals after the deadly attack carried out in early April against the Iranian consulate in Damascus, attributed to Israel.
Unusually, the American president “is returning to the White House this afternoon to consult his national security team on events in the Middle East,” his team announced in a message sent to the press, without giving further details. .
“We strongly condemn Iran’s seizure in international waters” of the MSC Aries, “flying the Portuguese flag and under British ownership,” declared National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
“We call on Iran to immediately release this ship and its crew, made up of Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Russians and Estonians,” she added in a statement.
“Seizing a civilian vessel without prior provocation is a flagrant violation of international law and an act of piracy on the part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an organization classified as a terrorist organization (by the United States, Editor’s note),” he said. she denounces.
Some 25 crew members are on board the container ship MSC Aries, whose control has been taken by the maritime special forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, according to the Italian shipowner. Swiss MSC.
