Iran Releases Seven Crew Members of Ship Detained in Gulf
Lisbon welcomes the release of the seven individuals, reiterating its demand for the immediate release of the 17 still detained with the ship since last month
Iran has released seven crew members of a container ship flying the Portuguese flag, detained last month in Gulf waters on suspicion of ties to Israel, Lisbon announced today Thursday, in what appears to be an attempt to ease Western pressures.
The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “seven crew members of the ship MSC Aries were released today Thursday,” noting that “the individuals involved are five Indians, one Filipino, and one Estonian, the only European in the crew of 25,” recalling that an Indian citizen had left the ship as announced by Tehran on April 18.
Tehran said on April 27 that its Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had confirmed to his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel that Iran “cares about the humanitarian issue of releasing the ship’s crew” detained by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its alleged “link” to Israel near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
This comes amid a climate of acute tensions between the two adversaries, Iran and Israel, after days of the destruction of the Iranian consulate in Damascus by a strike attributed to the Hebrew state and just hours before the Islamic Republic fired hundreds of missiles and drones towards Israel in response to an attack on the consulate.
Tehran asserted through its Foreign Ministry spokesperson that the ship was detained “due to its violation of international shipping rules and its failure to respond appropriately to Iranian authorities concerned,” stating that “based on available information, the detained ship belongs to the Zionist entity.”
On April 16, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Iran’s ambassador to Lisbon to demand the immediate release of the ship and its crew.
Lisbon welcomed on Thursday the release of some crew members, reiterating its demand for the immediate release of the remaining 17 individuals still detained with the ship.
Iran has detained several ships and oil tankers in the Gulf in recent years, fueling tensions with the United States, which has threatened to end Iranian threats to navigation security in the region.
Washington has repeatedly emphasized that it will not allow any international force to threaten the freedom of navigation through maritime passages in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global oil exports pass.
