The tit-for-tat nature of the incidents has become more obvious in 2021. The ships that are known to have been targeted sailed through the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean en route to the offshore oil terminals near Baniyas, Syria. After the spate of attacks, some Iranian ships began to take the much longer route circumnavigating Africa, causing supply disruptions and fuel rationing in Syria. Days later, the Israeli outlet Haaretz expanded on these reports, asserting that the “economic warfare” operation included several dozen attacks and had cost Iran billions of dollars. Similarly, the New York Times reported in March that the Israeli Navy’s Flotilla-13 commando unit had carried out at least ten such attacks using mines and other weaponry, primarily in the Red Sea but also in the East Mediterranean. In all, the report noted, “Israel has targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for Syria,” most carrying Iranian oil and some carrying weapons and material for Hezbollah’s precision missile program. Six additional Iranian vessels may have been targeted in 2020, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. In November 2019, Iran disclosed that three of its tankers ( Happiness 1, Helm, and Sabiti) had been attacked off Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast within a period of six months, spurring Tehran to warn international shipping authorities that commercial routes in that waterway were no longer safe. Both sides seem keen to contain their attacks, but the situation could nonetheless escalate-especially now that de facto military vessels like the Saviz are apparently being targeted amid new attacks on other fronts (e.g., the April 10 sabotage operation against Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility). Israel has never publicly accepted responsibility for these attacks against Iranian ships bound for Syria, but media reports and unofficial disclosures have essentially confirmed its role, and Iran’s hand in recent attacks against Israeli ships is clear as well. In response, Israel began a more concerted naval disruption campaign with apparent support from Western allies and, perhaps, Arab Gulf states. Yet Tehran’s desire to cement its military presence in Syria and its supply lines to Hezbollah led to more systematic illegal shipments of oil products, supplies, and, at times, arms. Of course, Iran had used ships to send weapons and ammunition to groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad long before 2019, with Israel seizing at least four of them between 20. The maritime front of this undeclared conflict has intensified since 2019 due in large part to an increase in Iran’s illicit oil smuggling efforts, which are aimed at funding Lebanese Hezbollah, facilitating the foreign operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), and propping up Syria’s Assad regime ( see Part 1 of this PolicyWatch for a fuller discussion of these smuggling networks). Together, the two attacks appear to be the latest ripostes in Iran and Israel’s long-running, low-intensity shadow war. A week earlier, explosions badly damaged the Saviz, a converted cargo ship that Iran permanently moored in the Red Sea to serve as a suspected intelligence collection outpost and floating armory. N April 13, explosions rocked the Israeli-owned car-carrier ship Hyperion Ray near Fujairah. "Tensions between Israel and Iran remain fraught, especially in light of increased signs of rapprochement between Iran and the Biden administration," Dryad said.Although both sides have sought to keep their tit-for-tat maritime attacks under control, they pose a substantial risk of miscalculation and escalation that could jeopardize international shipping. "Whilst details regarding the incident remain unclear it remains a realistic possibility that the event was the result of asymmetric activity by Iranian military," it said. The Marine Traffic website said the Bahamas-flagged vessel had left Dammam on Wednesday and was due to arrive in Singapore next week.ĭryad suggested Iran could be behind the blast, noting the incident comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran. "Investigations are ongoing," UKMTO said. United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also reported the blast and said that the vessel, which it did not identify, and the crew were "safe". Traditional Omani and cargo ships sail towards the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel appears to be returning to (its) port of origin," Dryad said. "The crew are understood to be uninjured. "The MV HELIOS RAY is owned by HELIOS Ltd an Israeli company registered in the Isle of Man," it added. VIDEO: Russian diplomats push their way home with handcar out of NKorea Missing Indian girl hid on the roof of her house from her parents because they took away her phone
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