TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister said on Saturday the crew of a seized Portuguese-flagged ship linked to Israel had been granted consular access and were expected to be freed.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized container vessel MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for an Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route.

Recent attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by Yemen’s Houthis, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have affected global shipping.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel in a telephone call that the “humanitarian issue of the release of the ship’s crew is of serious concern to us”, Iranian media said.

He was quoted as saying the crew would be turned over to their ambassadors in Tehran. The reports did not say when this would occur.

Iran’s foreign ministry has said the Aries was seized for “violating maritime laws” and that there was no doubt it was linked to Israel.

The MSC leased the Aries from Gortal Ship­ping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024