Iran’s IRGC seizes ship over alleged US links
Shafaq News- Tehran
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Liberia-flagged vessel “Epaminondas” on suspicion of cooperating with the US military, Iranian state media reported on Saturday, citing repeated calls at American ports over six months.
According to MarineTraffic, the vessel’s location has not updated for more than two days, with its last recorded position in the Gulf of Oman, west of the Iranian city of Kuhestak.
Operated by Danish company Maersk, the container ship came under fire while sailing near Iranian waters, Greece’s Kathimerini reported, with all 21 crew members from Ukraine and the Philippines remaining onboard.
Greece’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy indicated the ship had not been hijacked, was stationary near the Iranian coast, and remained under the captain’s control.
On April 22, the IRGC also targeted three vessels and detained two in the Strait of Hormuz, including “MSC Francesca.” While the White House maintained that the seizures did not violate the April 8 ceasefire as the ships were neither American nor Israeli, International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez described the detentions as breaches of international law.
The US, meanwhile, continues to enforce a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, with CENTCOM earlier today saying the guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta was enforcing the blockade against an Iranian-flagged vessel heading to an Iranian port.
Guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) enforces the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports against an Iranian-flagged ship attempting to sail to a port in Iran, April 24. pic.twitter.com/XsGg65nXt2
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 25, 2026
