NEW DELHI: Iran on Wednesday seized two vessels, considered one of them certain for Gujarat, towards the backdrop of mounting tensions within the Strait of Hormuz, the place the Trump-Tehran confrontation continues to accentuate.The event comes shut on the heels of a tense episode during which Iranian forces opened hearth on an India-bound ship making an attempt to cross via the chokepoint, forcing it into an abrupt return.

Iranian state tv later reported that the ships had been within the custody of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and had been being taken to Iran. The vessels had been recognized as MSC Francesca and Epaminondas, although their homeowners couldn’t be instantly reached for remark, as AP reported.In keeping with marine site visitors information, Epaminondas, a Liberian-flagged container ship, was en path to Mundra port in Gujarat’s Kachch district. Its navigational standing was listed as “stopped.”The seizures mark a pointy escalation by Iran’s management, which seems to be hardening its stance following earlier rounds of talks with the Trump administration that devolved into open battle.Regardless of a ceasefire mediated by Pakistan earlier on Wednesday, tensions across the important oil chokepoint stay excessive, strained by continued US blockade measures and restrictions imposed by the IRGC navy.