DUBAI (Reuters) – An Israeli company’s commercial ship was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in Gulf waters, pro-Iranian media and an Israeli television channel said Tuesday.
Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 quoted unnamed Israeli officials as blaming archenemy Iran for the attack, describing it as a missile strike. There were no casualties and the ship continued its course, the TV channel added.
Two maritime security sources told Reuters that an Israeli ship was hit near the port of Fujairah in the UAE, resulting in an explosion, but no casualties.
Officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and Israel’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on the incident. A spokesman for the Israeli Transport Ministry said he was aware of the reports but could not confirm them.
There was no immediate confirmation from the UAE.
The incident comes a day after Tehran accused Israel of sabotaging a nuclear site, and after Iran and the United States began indirect talks in Vienna on ways to revive the 2015 Tehran nuclear deal.
Lebanon-based television channel Al Mayadeen, citing sources, identified the ship as Hyperion.
The tracking data from Refinitiv ships showed that the Bahamas car carrier HYPERION RAY was en route from Kuwait to the port of Fujairah.
Unews news agency, also based in Lebanon, said the ship was carrying cars and had been at Mina Al Ahmadi port in Kuwait 48 hours earlier.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in an advisory report that it was aware of a possible incident near Fujairah and that an investigation was underway.
Last month, an Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, two weeks after an Israeli ship the MV HELIOS RAY – owned by the same company as the Hyperion Ray, according to a UN ship database – was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman .
The incidents have occurred since US President Joe Biden took office in January with a pledge to re-join the 2015 nuclear pact – abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in a move welcomed by Israel – if Tehran returns to full compliance with the deal.
Iran said Tuesday that it would enrich uranium to 60% purity, a step that would bring the fissile material closer to 90% suitable for a nuclear weapon.
Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous and Lisa Barrington in Dubai, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Jonathan Saul in London; edited by Alison Williams, William Maclean