‘Commandos’ are reported to have boarded a vessel in a busy international shipping lane off the coast of Iran sparking fears the pariah state is involved in the attack.
AP reports a video seen by the press agency shows soldiers raiding a ship near the Strait of Hormuz by helicopter Saturday, an attack a defence official attributed to Iran amid wider tensions between Tehran and the West.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow stretch of sea separating the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and is a critical “choke point” for international trade and oil distribution.
A defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, shared the video with the AP which the agency said showed commandos rappelling down onto a stack of containers sitting on the deck of the vessel.
A crew member on the ship could be heard saying: “Don’t come out.” He then tells his colleagues to go to the ship’s bridge as more commandos come down on the deck. One soldier can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them potential cover fire.
It’s understood the attack corresponds to known details of a boarding, and the helicopter involved appeared to be one used by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which has carried out other ship raids in the past.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations showed a report on X describing a ship being “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah.
The vessel involved is likely the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship reportedly part of a group owned by an Israeli billionaire.
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