India secures release of 5 sailors on ship seized by Iran. Why it isn’t over yet?

India’s diplomacy scored a big win on Thursday (9 May) after it was able to secure the release of five Indians on board the MSC Aries, a commercial ship with links to Israel, which had been seized by Tehran earlier.

The Indian embassy in Iran while thanking the Iranian authorities for their cooperation also confirmed that the sailors had departed the country during the evening and would be making their way home soon.

However, the work isn’t over yet. New Delhi still has to secure the release of the remaining 11 Indian crew members on board the captured vessel.

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Home bound

On Thursday, Iran freed seven of the 25 crew members on board the MSC Aries, including five Indians , a Filipino and an Estonian. The Indian sailors, as per officials, are making their way home.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhi Jaiswal confirming the news, said on X: “Five of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate 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 and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.

— India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) May 9, 2024

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The release comes after India pressed into action to secure their release. In fact, shortly after the ship had been captured, India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar had held phone calls with his counterparts in Iran and Israel. In his call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Jaishankar had also expressed concerns over the situation and the condition of the 17 on board the ship.

Following his call with the Iranian foreign minister, S Jaishankar had posted on X, “Discussed the current situation in the region. Stressed the importance of avoiding escalation, exercising restraint, and returning to diplomacy. Agreed to remain in touch.”

And it seems that India’s diplomacy worked, as Iran had on 18 April released one of the Indian crew member, Ann Tessa Joseph from Thrissur, Kerala. “With the concerted efforts of Indian mission in Tehran and the Iranian govt, Indian deck cadet Ms Ann Tessa Joseph from Thrissur, Kerala, who was among the Indian crew members of container vessel MSC Aries, has landed safely at the Cochin International Airport today afternoon,” posted the MEA on her return to India.

When asked about her captivity, Joseph had said that she had been treated well; there was no cruelty or ill-treatment. Moreover, the other Indians who were also taken captive were in good health and were also given the chance to contact their family members.

While the five Indians are returning home, efforts are still on by the MEA to secure the release of the remaining 11 Indians on board the ship. It is still not clear why their return home hasn’t been cleared yet. However, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal’s previous press interaction offers some clues. Earlier in April, while interacting with the members of the press, he had said that there were certain “technicalities involved” in the return of the crew members.

“There are certain technicalities involved, there are some contractual obligations, once that is done, it will depend on that when will they return,” he had then told the media.

Iran’s seizure of MSC Aries

It was on 13 April that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy had seized the MSC Aries, a container ship with links to Israel, near the Strait of Hormuz.

At the time, Iran had said that the vessel had been seized as it has “violated maritime laws”. “The vessel was diverted into Iran’s territorial waters as a result of violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities,” spokesperson Nasser Kanaani had said.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency further reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded the MSC Aries and taken it into Iranian waters.

The MSC Aries, a 1,200-foot cargo vessel, had 25 crew members on board, of which 17 were Indians. It is operated by MSC, a major shipping company, but belongs to an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Zodiac Group, owned by the Israel-born billionaire Eyal Ofer.

Notably, the ship’s capture came hours before Tehran launched an attack on Israel — it had launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards the Jewish nation. However, 99 per cent of them had been intercepted either outside Israeli airspace or over the country itself, Israel said. The airstrike had been Iran’s response to its consulate building being hit in Syria’s Damascus, killing 13 people, including some senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Not Iran’s first vessel capture

The capture of MSC Aries was not the first time Iran had seized a commercial vessel. In January, Iran’s navy seized a tanker loaded with oil off the coast of Oman. In that seizure, soldiers also descended from a helicopter.

The United States has also said that before the war in Gaza, Iran had “harassed, attacked or interfered” with more than a dozen internationally flagged merchant ships in recent years.

Moreover, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have also been a menace on the high waters, launched more than 40 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since last November. The Houthis have said they would be attacking ships connected with Israel, or heading to or from there. However, many of the vessels have no connection with Israel.

With inputs from agencies