Panama condemned what it described as the "illegal seizure" of the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, declaring it a grave assault on maritime security. In footage aired by Iranian state broadcasters,armed soldiers were seenapproaching one of the vessels via a small boat before scaling a ladder to board it.
The footage depicted thesoldiers brandishing their weaponsas they swept through the ships. No injuries to the crew members of either vessel were reported.
The Guard also launched an assault on a third vessel, identified as the Euphoria, which had reportedly become "stranded" along the Iranian coastline, according to Iranian media, though no further details were provided. The strikes came just a day after Trump extended a two-week ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.
The ongoing standoff between the US and Iran has effectively strangled nearly all exports passing through the strait — through which 20% of the world's traded oil flows during peacetime — with no resolution in sight.
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Video footage broadcast on Iranian state television purportedly captures the chilling moment masked Islamic Revolutionary Guard troops boarded and commandeered two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, just hours afterDonald Trumpextended a fragile ceasefire.
Iran fired upon three ships and seized two of them in the vital waterway on Wednesday. The captured vessels were the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas and the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, both container ships.
Technomar, the management firm behind the Liberian-registered Epaminondas, confirmed it was "approached and fired upon by a manned gunboat" off the Omani coastline, adding that the ship's bridge had sustained damage. A second cargo vessel came under fire several hours later, with no damage reported, before it was brought to a standstill in the water.
Iran’s IRGC Navy Seizes Non-Compliant Container Ships in Strait of HormuzIran’s IRGC Navy has intercepted and detained container ships violating regulations in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.pic.twitter.com/k8zQ5YFQKw
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
