BERLIN (AP) – The operator of cargo vessel boarded by Iranian forces as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz said Wednesday it has confirmed the crew is safe. Iran meanwhile downplayed the political significance of the seizure, saying it was taken because the company that chartered it owed a local firm money.
The Marshall Islands-flagged MV Maersk Tigris was taken Wednesday to Bandar Abbas, the main port for Iran’s navy, under escort by Iranian patrol boats, according to Maersk Line, the Danish shipping company that had chartered it.
The incident comes at a critical time in Iran’s relations with the United States and the West, as talks about its contested nuclear program continue and frictions rise as U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia leads an airstrike campaign against Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen.
Speaking at the United Nations, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the ship’s seizure had “nothing to do with Yemen” and was strictly a legal case.
“I think we should not read too much into it,” Zarif said. The Iranian Port and Maritime Organization also released a statement saying that Maersk Line owed an Iranian oil company financial damages from an Iranian court ruling.