17 Indians On Ship Seized By Iran Off UAE Coast Amid Tensions: Sources

Of the 25 crew members aboard the container ship seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards off the UAE coast on Saturday, 17 are Indian, sources have told NDTV. 

The container ship, MCS Aries, was seized near the Strait of Hormuz by carrying out a "heliborne operation", and it is now headed towards the territorial waters of Iran, the country's state-owned IRNA news agency reported. 

The seizure of the vessel comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. There are apprehensions of an attack on Israel by Iran, which has vowed retaliation for an airstrike on the consular section of its embassy in Syria's Damascus almost two weeks ago. Seven people, including, two generals were killed in the airstrike.

Iran has said that the ship is "related to the Zionist regime (Israel) in the Gulf".