Iran releases cargo ship after U.S. pressure

The crew are all in good condition, Rickmers Ship Management told the AP in an email Thursday, adding that a court order led to the MV Maersk Tigris’ release.

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According to the report, the vessel will head back on its regularly scheduled trip to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates, where management representatives from Rickmers and others will be waiting.

The U.S. Navy dispatched its USS Farragut destroyer after receiving a distress call from the ship on April 28, which was fired upon and boarded in the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel was seized by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy on April 28, Iranian officials said, because the Danish company owed money.

According to reports, the ship was fired upon after it did not heed an Iranian order to go further into the country’s territorial waters. Iranian naval escorts then took it to Bandar Abbas, where it remained.

The Maersk Tigris incident ratcheted up tensions in the Persian Gulf region, where the U.S. and its Arab allies are at odds with Iran over the conflict in Yemen and a host of other issues.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted last month during an appearance at New York University that the dispute was a legal matter — not a signal to the United States.

"For us, the Persian Gulf is our lifeline,” Zarif said, "and nothing is more important for us than freedom of navigation in those waters.”

"Simply, our naval forces implemented the decision of the court,” he said.

(politico.com)