Iranian commandos dropped from a helicopter and hijacked a vessel linked to Israel in the Hormuz Strait on Saturday, prompting Israel to accuse Tehran of “piracy”.
The maritime attack came as Israel braced for an all-out Iranian strike on its territory following the alleged Israeli killing of a top Iranian commander in Damascus last week.
US President Joe Biden cut short a weekend stay at his Delaware residence to return to Washington and “consult with his national security team about events in the Middle East”, the White House said on Saturday.
Mr Biden warned late on Friday that an Iranian attack on Israel would come “sooner [rather] than later”.
A video shared online of the attack on MSC Aries showed three men dressed in black climbing down a rope onto a stack of containers on the boat’s deck.
Iranian state media said the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had seized a foreign vessel “affiliated with the Zionist regime in the Persian Gulf”.
The Portuguese-flagged container ship is associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.
‘Don’t come out!’
In the video, a crew member on the ship can be heard saying “don’t come out” and then telling his colleagues to go to the ship’s bridge as more figures board the vessel.
Shipping company MSC confirmed the hijacking of MSC Aries, saying that it was “boarded by helicopter” and was now being diverted to Iran along with its 25 crew members.
“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel,” it said.
Earlier this week, Alireza Tangsiri, the commander of the IRGC navy threatened to close the Hormuz Strait if necessary, calling Israel’s presence in the United Arab Emirates a threat.
“We can close the Hormuz Strait but are not doing so. However, if the enemy comes to disrupt us, we will review our policy,” Mr Tangsiri said.
On Saturday, Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, called on the European Union and the “free world” to immediately declare the IRGC a terrorist organisation and to “sanction Iran now”.
Iran is a “criminal regime that supports Hamas’s crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law”, Mr Katz said.
‘Iran will bear the consequences’
The IDF also issued a statement, warning Tehran would “bear the consequences for choosing to escalate the situation any further”.
Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesperson, said: “Israel is on high alert. We have increased our readiness to protect Israel from further Iranian aggression. We are also prepared to respond.
“The Israel Defense Forces is prepared for all scenarios and will take the necessary steps, together with our allies, to protect the people of Israel.”
Mr Hagari did not specifically mention the ship hijacking.
Iran has continually threatened to “punish” Israel for killing its top commander General Mohammad Reza Zahedi along with several other IRGC officers in a strike on its Syrian embassy on April 1.
There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity to try to prevent any escalation.
Wild headlines – but Israelis stay sanguine
“Israel on high alert as world works to stop clash with Iran,” read the front page of the Jerusalem Post on one news stand on Saturday.
The headline on another Israeli paper, Maariv, read: “Danger Zone” along with a picture of an Iranian flag and a missile being launched.
But the papers laid out for customers at a local kiosk in the coastal town of Herzliya, central Israel, on Saturday morning stood in a stark contrast to the mood on the street.
“Nothing will happen. They say it will but it won’t. It’s just talk. In Herzliya we don’t talk so much about it,” Itzik, a local supermarket owner, told The Telegraph.
Two women going for a job along the seaside were equally sanguine in the face of the Iranian threats.
“We are concerned but not nervous. We are used to it. I think an attack might happen, but on a military target, not civilian,” one of the women said.
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