Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the social network X (formerly Twitter) accused the Iranian authorities of piracy after the seizure of a cargo ship sailing under the flag of Portugal in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, and called on the EU and the entire civilized world to recognize the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, elite units Iranian Armed Forces) a terrorist organization.
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“The IRGC seized a Portuguese civilian cargo ship belonging to an EU member and claimed that it belonged to Israel. The regime of Ayatollah Khamenei is a criminal regime that supports the crimes of Hamas and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law. I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare The IRGC is a terrorist organization and impose sanctions against Iran,” Katz wrote.
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Earlier on Saturday, Iranian media reported that IRGC units seized a cargo ship flying the flag of Portugal in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the IRNA news agency, the container ship, named MCS Aries, was intercepted by IRGC naval special forces by conducting an operation and evacuating personnel on the deck of the ship.
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It was noted that the cargo ship was heading to the territorial waters of Iran. According to the agency, the ship was sailing under the Portuguese flag, and its owner is the Israeli company Zodiac Maritime of businessman Eyal Ofer.
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The incident comes amid Tehran’s pledge to respond to the recent Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed several officers from Iran’s elite armed forces.
