Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia– Israel has the potential to be behind attacks in the Mediterranean this week, which damaged an Iranian container ship. This was disclosed by Iranian investigators to local media.
The Shahr e Kord ship was hit by an explosive device which caused a small fire. Even so, no one on board was injured. Two maritime security sources said initial indications suggest the ship was deliberately targeted by an unknown source.
“Taking into account the geographical location and the way the ship was targeted, one strong possibility is that this terrorist operation was carried out by the Zionist regime (Israel),” said an unnamed member of the Iranian team. Reuters, Sunday (14/03/2021).
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also confirmed the same thing. He said the reports confirmed acts of sabotage in violation of international law.
“The step to identify the perpetrators of this sabotage is on the agenda,” he said.
Iranian investigators say the explosive projectile could have been fired from an aerial vehicle, hitting the containers on the deck of the ship. Meanwhile Iran’s state-owned shipping company, IRISL, said it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of the attacks, called terrorism and naval piracy.
The incident occurred two weeks after the Israeli vessel MV HELIOS RAY was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman. The cause is still unclear.
Even so, a U.S. defense official said the blast left holes on both sides of the hull. Israel accuses Iran of being behind the blast, an allegation denied by the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz declined to comment directly on the incident when addressing a webinar on Saturday (14/03/2021). But, he said Iran regularly sends weapons to its proxies in the region.
“We thwarted the supply of weapons and other matters relating to the development of operational and military capabilities by air, sea and land,” said Gantz.
“And I’m not hereby saying whether we did or didn’t do this or that.”
Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent weeks. Both Tehran and Tel Aviv have frequently issued threats against each other.
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