5 Indians on board ship captured by Iran released
Five of the Indian sailors on board an Israeli-linked vessel seized by Tehran were released on Thursday and have departed from Iran, the Indian embassy in Tehran said. The embassy, while sharing the details of their release, thanked the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with "the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas." "5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released...departed from Iran today evening," the embassy said in a post on X.
MSC Aries seized on April 13
The MSC Aries, linked to Zodiac Maritime, a London-based company under Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group, was seized by Iranian forces near the Strait of Hormuz on April 13. This incident occurred amidst escalating tensions between Israel and Iran following an Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1. The Geneva-based company MSC later confirmed the seizure and revealed that there were 25 crew members onboard at the time of capture.
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'Indian crew members safe'
Earlier, one of the 17 crew members—Ann Tessa Joseph from Kerala—returned safely home on April 18. The Ministry of External Affairs had also said that one of the 17 Indian crew members has safely returned to India and others are safe, adding that they will be released once their contractual obligations are fulfilled. The Iranian Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, has also said that the Indian nationals—crew members of MSC Aries—are not detained and that they are free to go.
Jaishankar calls his Iranian counterpart
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had dialled his Iranian counterpart H Amir Abdollahian, demanding release of the 17 crew members. "Discussed...situation...Stressed importance of avoiding escalation, exercising restraint...returning to diplomacy," Jaishankar had posted on X. Notably, Israel's war on Hamas has inflamed decades-old tensions across the region. With Iranian-backed forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen's Houthi rebels also involved in the fighting, any new attack in West Asia threatens to escalate that conflict into a wider regional war.
