Indian woman cadet aboard cargo vessel seized by Iran returns home,

The MEA added that they are in touch with the remaining 16 Indian crew members of the container vessel who are in good health and in contact with their family members back home.

New Delhi: The lone woman among the 17 Indian members of the crew of the MSC Aries, a cargo vessel detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, has returned home even as Tehran conveyed to New Delhi that the rest of the crew were also free to leave the ship.

Ann Tessa Joseph, who hails from Thrissur in Kerala, returned home after the Embassy of India in Tehran took up with the Government of Iran the issue of the release of the 17 Indian members of the crew of the MSC Aries. She was a deck cadet on the ship detained by the IRGC of Iran for its alleged links with Israel. After she landed in Cochin, she was received by the Regional Passport Officer on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

 “The Embassy of India in Tehran remains seized of the matter and is in touch with the remaining 16 Indian crew members of the container vessel. The crew members are in good health and in contact with their family members in India,” the MEA stated on Thursday.  

Tehran already conveyed to New Delhi that the 16 other Indians among the 25-member crew of the detained MSC Aries were also free to leave the ship and return home.

The IRGC of Iran detained the MSC Aries off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on April 13 – hours before the West Asian Islamic Republic fired hundreds of drones and missiles on Israel. Tehran stated that it had attacked Israel to avenge an aerial strike on its diplomatic and consular mission in Damascus that resulted in the death of some of its military commanders.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently had a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister H Amirabdollahian and discussed the situation in the region. Jaishankar stressed the need to return to diplomacy. He also took up with Amirabdollahian the issue of the release of 17 Indians among the crew of the MSC Aries.

The Embassy of India in Tehran is also in touch with the Government of Iran in ensuring the well being of the remaining crew members of MSC Aries, the MEA stated on Thursday.