Yemen's Houthi rebels announced a blockade of Israel at the end of October 2023, and Yemen is holding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, so it is easy to get stuck in Israel's neck. The Houthis made it conditional on allowing Israeli ships to enter and leave the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as long as Israel ended its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Obviously, Israel, as the first military power in the Middle East, did not agree to the conditions put forward by the Houthis, because Israel has the support of the United States, and the United States began the so-called "Prosperity Guardian" Red Sea escort operation on December 18, 2023.
In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom has also joined the escort and has also launched a joint strike against the Houthis in Yemen, which have also targeted the blockade of American and British ships as a result of the United States and Britain supporting Israel, and have also begun to carry out direct strikes against American and British warships. Israel does not dare to take actual countermeasures against the blockade of the Houthis in Yemen, and the Israeli Navy does not dare to use frigates to operate near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Following the Houthi blockade of Israel by the Houthis in Yemen, Iran has also publicly threatened to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, and it is now likely that Iran is aware of Israel's shipping activities through the Strait of Hormuz.
Although Israel cannot carry out large-scale cargo transportation through the Red Sea, it can maintain the transportation of goods through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and now Iran is taking it by surprise and directly on its doorstep. According to foreign media reports, the Iranian military suddenly seized a container ship sailing in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, the ship flew the Portuguese flag, but it belonged to a British-registered company, the company has an Israeli background, for which Iran decisively seized the container ship, so there is already a rhythm of not giving Israel a chance.
Iran's move in the Strait of Hormuz will disrupt the deployment of the US Navy, because the US Navy is mainly in the Red Sea as an escort, and does not deploy too much force in the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, because Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel, the US Navy has captured and transferred two Aegis missile destroyers to the waters near Israel. Judging from the public information, the seized ship is sailing from the UAE to India, and judging from the company to which the ship belongs, it has ties to Israel.
The seizure of the Elliers container ship from Iran is a warning to Israel that it will not be polite if Israel continues to maintain foreign trade through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran now has a variety of means to deal with Israel, especially after Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, Iran will make Israel passive by seizing Israeli ships, because it will affect the navigation activities of other ships in the future. Iran is "beating a snake and hitting seven inches", and it will make Israel speechless, because Israel will not admit to bypassing the route of the Red Sea el-Mandeb Strait by land transportation, in fact, playing tricks on Iran's doorstep, Israel is overestimating its own wisdom.