Benjamin Netanyahu
Photographer: Lior Mizrahi / Getty Images
Photographer: Lior Mizrahi / Getty Images
An Iranian missile hit an Israeli ship sailing from Tanzania to India, Israel Channel 12 said, without saying where it got the information or how Iran was involved.
It is the fourth time in about a month that the bitter enemies have exchanged allegations of attacks at sea, and this comes amid heightened tensions as Israel opposes US President Joe Biden’s attempts to rejoin the deal. of 2015 which limited Iran’s nuclear activities.
The Israeli military spokesman did not comment and there was no response from XT Management, the company that named Channel 12 as the owner of the Israeli ship. Officials in Iran, where a public holiday is celebrated, could not be reached for comment.
According to Ronen Solomon, an intelligence analyst and head of the Intelli Times blog, which confirmed the details of the reported attack in the Arabian Sea with people close to the case. He identified the ship as the LORI and said a missile or mine deployed by one of Iran’s fleet of small military boats was most likely responsible.
Earlier this month, Iran said Israel was likely behind an explosion that damaged an Iranian container ship in the Mediterranean, and Israel’s Environment Minister alleged that an Iranian ship had deliberately dumped oil in Israeli waters. An Israeli maritime intelligence company, Windward, later said the oil spill likely came from the sanctions undermining the oil trade between Iran and Syria.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that Iran was responsible for an inexplicable explosion on a cargo ship owned by Israel in the Persian Gulf. Israeli Daily Haaretz reported last week that Israel has hit several dozen Iranian oil tankers in recent weeks, causing cumulative damage to Iran of billions of dollars.
“This is not the beginning of a naval campaign, but we are in the thick of it,” said Solomon.
– With the help of Golnar Motevalli and Yaacov Benmeleh
Updates with analyst comment from the fourth paragraph.