20240413-US-Department-of-Defense

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<img src="https://news-image-api.abs-cbn.com/Prod/editorImage/171302556379420240413-US-Department-of-Defense.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(65, 65, 65); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the US Navy&#39;s guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) transits the Strait of Hormuz as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) makes an inbound transit to the Gulf on November 26, 2023. Merissa Daley / US Department of Defense / AFP&nbsp;The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday said it is trying to confirm if there Filipinos were onboard a container ship seized near the <span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(65, 65, 65); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; --darkreader-inline-color: #bfb9b1; --darkreader-inline-bgcolor: #181a1b; display: inline !important;">Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;&ldquo;The Department of Foreign Affairs has been apprised of news reports that the Portuguese container ship MSC ARIES has been seized near the Strait of Hormuz,&quot; the DFA said in a statement.<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/24/23/17-filipinos-in-hijacked-ship-safe-so-far-dfa" id="isPasted">17 Filipinos in hijacked ship safe so far: DFA&nbsp;</a>Iranian armed forces reportedly seized the container ship as response to the deadly Israeli attack on Iran&rsquo;s consulate in Syria.&quot;We are working in coordination with the Philippine Embassy in Tehran and the Department of Migrant Workers to verify the presence of Filipino seafarers on board,&quot; said the DFA.&nbsp;&quot;If so, no efforts will be spared to have them released and returned home as possible.&quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/12/filipino-seafarers-who-survived-houthi-attack-return-to-ph-2148" id="isPasted">Filipino seafarers who survived Houthi attack return to PH</a>&#39;TERRORIST ORGANIZATION&#39;Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship &quot;related to the Zionist regime (Israel)&quot; in the Gulf on Saturday, state media reported, with tensions soaring in the region.The ship&#39;s operator, the Italian-Swiss group MSC, later confirmed Iranian authorities had boarded it.Israel called it &quot;a pirate operation&quot; and demanded that the Guards be declared a &quot;terrorist organization&quot; by the European Union.A container ship &quot;was seized by the Sepah (Guards) Navy Special Forces by carrying out a heliborne operation,&quot; state news agency IRNA reported, naming it as the MSC Aries.It added that the operation took place &quot;near the Strait of Hormuz&quot; and &quot;this ship has now been directed towards the territorial waters&quot; of Iran.MSC confirmed the Aries had &quot;been boarded by Iranian authorities via helicopter as she passed the Strait of Hormuz&quot; on Saturday morning.It said that 25 crew were onboard and that it was &quot;working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel&quot;.The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Indian Ocean and, according to the US Energy Information Administration, more than a fifth of annual global oil consumption passes through it each year.A video shared on social media appeared to show people descending from a helicopter onto the deck of the Aries using a rope.Responding to the seizure, Israel&#39;s foreign minister Israel Katz said in a post on X that Iran had conducted &quot;a pirate operation in violation of international law&quot;.&quot;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&quot;, he added.PORTUGUESE FLAGVessel tracking websites, vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com, say MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged container ship and gave its last reported position as in the Gulf.The United States said Friday it was sending military reinforcements to the region, after Iran vowed retaliation for a deadly strike on the consular annex of its Damascus embassy almost two weeks ago.US President Joe Biden said Friday that he expected Iran to strike Israel, which was widely blamed for the consulate attack, &quot;sooner rather than later&quot;.The April 1 strike killed at least seven members of Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.The surging tensions come against the backdrop of Israel&#39;s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month.The conflict has drawn in regional actors including Iran-backed groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.Yemen&#39;s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, and in November seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel, the Galaxy Leader. The crew are still being held.Iran has supported Hamas, but repeatedly denied direct involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel that started the war.In January, it seized a ship off the coast of Oman in retaliation for what it described as the &quot;theft&quot; by the United States of its oil.Iran&#39;s navy had boarded the Greek-owned St Nikolas before later releasing the crew members. - with a report from Agence France-Presse

<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/24/23/17-filipinos-in-hijacked-ship-safe-so-far-dfa" id="isPasted">17 Filipinos in hijacked ship safe so far: DFA&nbsp;</a>Iranian armed forces reportedly seized the container ship as response to the deadly Israeli attack on Iran&rsquo;s consulate in Syria.&quot;We are working in coordination with the Philippine Embassy in Tehran and the Department of Migrant Workers to verify the presence of Filipino seafarers on board,&quot; said the DFA.&nbsp;&quot;If so, no efforts will be spared to have them released and returned home as possible.&quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/12/filipino-seafarers-who-survived-houthi-attack-return-to-ph-2148" id="isPasted">Filipino seafarers who survived Houthi attack return to PH</a>&#39;TERRORIST ORGANIZATION&#39;Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship &quot;related to the Zionist regime (Israel)&quot; in the Gulf on Saturday, state media reported, with tensions soaring in the region.The ship&#39;s operator, the Italian-Swiss group MSC, later confirmed Iranian authorities had boarded it.Israel called it &quot;a pirate operation&quot; and demanded that the Guards be declared a &quot;terrorist organization&quot; by the European Union.A container ship &quot;was seized by the Sepah (Guards) Navy Special Forces by carrying out a heliborne operation,&quot; state news agency IRNA reported, naming it as the MSC Aries.It added that the operation took place &quot;near the Strait of Hormuz&quot; and &quot;this ship has now been directed towards the territorial waters&quot; of Iran.MSC confirmed the Aries had &quot;been boarded by Iranian authorities via helicopter as she passed the Strait of Hormuz&quot; on Saturday morning.It said that 25 crew were onboard and that it was &quot;working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel&quot;.The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Indian Ocean and, according to the US Energy Information Administration, more than a fifth of annual global oil consumption passes through it each year.A video shared on social media appeared to show people descending from a helicopter onto the deck of the Aries using a rope.Responding to the seizure, Israel&#39;s foreign minister Israel Katz said in a post on X that Iran had conducted &quot;a pirate operation in violation of international law&quot;.&quot;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&quot;, he added.PORTUGUESE FLAGVessel tracking websites, vesselfinder.com and marinetraffic.com, say MSC Aries is a Portuguese-flagged container ship and gave its last reported position as in the Gulf.The United States said Friday it was sending military reinforcements to the region, after Iran vowed retaliation for a deadly strike on the consular annex of its Damascus embassy almost two weeks ago.US President Joe Biden said Friday that he expected Iran to strike Israel, which was widely blamed for the consulate attack, &quot;sooner rather than later&quot;.The April 1 strike killed at least seven members of Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.The surging tensions come against the backdrop of Israel&#39;s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month.The conflict has drawn in regional actors including Iran-backed groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.Yemen&#39;s Iran-backed Huthi rebels have carried out dozens of missile and drone attacks against shipping in the Red Sea, and in November seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel, the Galaxy Leader. The crew are still being held.Iran has supported Hamas, but repeatedly denied direct involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel that started the war.In January, it seized a ship off the coast of Oman in retaliation for what it described as the &quot;theft&quot; by the United States of its oil.Iran&#39;s navy had boarded the Greek-owned St Nikolas before later releasing the crew members. - with a report from Agence France-Presse

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday said it is trying to confirm if there Filipinos were onboard a container ship seized near the <span data-darkreader-inline-bgcolor="" data-darkreader-inline-color="" id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(65, 65, 65); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; --darkreader-inline-color: #bfb9b1; --darkreader-inline-bgcolor: #181a1b; display: inline !important;">Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;&ldquo;The Department of Foreign Affairs has been apprised of news reports that the Portuguese container ship MSC ARIES has been seized near the Strait of Hormuz,&quot; the DFA said in a statement.

<img src="https://news-image-api.abs-cbn.com/Prod/editorImage/171302556379420240413-US-Department-of-Defense.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><span id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(65, 65, 65); letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the US Navy&#39;s guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) transits the Strait of Hormuz as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (IKECSG) makes an inbound transit to the Gulf on November 26, 2023. Merissa Daley / US Department of Defense / AFP&nbsp;

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday said it is trying to confirm if there Filipinos were onboard a container ship seized near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday said it is trying to confirm if there Filipinos were onboard a container ship seized near the Strait of Hormuz.

DFA verifying if Filipinos onboard ship seized near Strait of Hormuz | ABS-CBN News

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DFA verifying if Filipinos onboard ship seized near Strait of Hormuz

DFA verifying if Filipinos onboard ship seized near Strait of Hormuz