Iran-Israel tension: Tehran says it has seized Israel-linked container ship near Hormuz Strait | Latest updates

Iran has vowed to avenge an alleged Israeli attack on its embassy in Damascus last week that killed seven of its elite military officers.

Tensions are on the rise in the Middle East amid apprehension of an attack on Israel by Iran.

This image grab taken from a UGC video posted on social media on April 13, 2023, shows Iran's Revolutionary Guards rappelling down onto a container ship named, MSC Aries, near the Strait of Hormuz.(AFP)

Iran has vowed to avenge an alleged Israeli attack on its embassy in Damascus last week that killed seven of its elite military officers, including two generals. Follow Israel-Iran news LIVE updates.

According to people familiar with Western intelligence assessments, Israel is bracing for a direct and unprecedented attack by Iran on government targets as soon as Saturday.

Iran-Israel tensions: Here are the latest updates.

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized an Israel-linked container ship near the Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman on Saturday, according to state-run IRNA.
• IRGC special forces boarded the MSC Aries from a helicopter and directed it toward Iranian territorial waters.
• The Iranian report came after two maritime security agencies said "regional authorities" had seized a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to Reuters.
• "Vessel reported to have been seized by regional authorities" off the coast of Fujairah, the Royal Navy's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said, without providing further details.

• According to vessel tracking websites such as vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com, MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged container ship. Both sites give the vessel's last reported position as in the Gulf.
• Israel responded to the incident by saying that Teheran was conducting piracy and should be sanctioned for it, reported Reuters.
• Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
• "The Ayatollah regime of Khamenei is a criminal regime that supports Hamas' crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law," Katz said. “I call on the European Union and the free world to immediately declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and to sanction Iran now.”
• Last night, US President Joe Biden said that Iran will attack Israel sooner, rather than later.
• The US president also gave a one-word message to Iran over its alleged plan to attack Israel – 'Don't'. He said the US would help defend Israel. "We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he said.