SEAL-Style Attack on Iran Ship Heats Shadow War N Attack Last Week on an Iranian Cargo Ship That Is Said to Serve As a Halt It
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ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021 2 This Wednesday, April 7, 2021, satellite photo by Planet Labs Inc. shows the MV Saviz in the Red Sea as it leaks oil. An attack Tuesday on the Iranian cargo ship said to serve as a fl oating base for its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard off Yemen has escalated a yearslong shadow war on Mideast waters, just as world powers negotiate over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. (AP) Mystery assault on Pasdaran base SEAL-style attack on Iran ship heats shadow war n attack last week on an Iranian cargo ship that is said to serve as a halt it. We are hitting it in the entire region. ” incident. That likely springs from the ongoing talks in Vienna that could Afl oating base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off Then came the explosion on the MV Saviz. mean billions of dollars in American sanctions relief. They also have the coast of Yemen has escalated a yearslong shadow war in Mideast While the previous attacks on shipping targeted only commercial ves- faced two mysterious attacks later blamed on Israel last year without a waters. The development comes just as world powers are negotiating sels and caused cosmetic damage above the waves, Tuesday’s blast ap- major response — the explosion at an advanced centrifuge plant at its over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. parently blew through the hull of the Saviz below its waterline. While Natanz nuclear facility and the killing of a scientist who began the coun- The assault on the MV Saviz last Tuesday appears to have caused still fl oating off the Dahlak archipelago, a chain of islands off the coast try’s military nuclear program decades earlier. the most-extensive damage yet in this shadow war, seemingly between of the African nation of Eritrea, it appears the damage to the vessel was Israel, whose offi cials and Mossad intelligence service rarely publicly Iran and Israel — and one that could further escalate regional tensions. severe. acknowledge such attacks, have followed the same playbook when it Attacks and counterattacks between the two nations could spin out of Salt water from the Red Sea fl ooded through the vessel’s engine room, comes to the recent attacks on Iran. However, Netanyahu has for years control. according to images released last Thursday by the website Nournews, described Iran as an existential threat to his nation due to its support for Since at least 2019, there have been a series of mysterious attacks on which is believed to be close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Coun- militant groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, vessels, typically with limpet mines attached by a special forces diver to cil. The photos bore timestamps from last Wednesday afternoon and and has hinted that his country will act if necessary against it. a ship’s hull. The attacks came at a time of mounting tensions between showed the ship’s registration number from the International Maritime Netanyahu, premier of a state with its own secret nuclear weapons Iran and the United States over then-President Donald Trump’s decision Organization, a United Nations agency regulating vessels at sea. program, long has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran has to unilaterally pull out of the atomic accord. A satellite image shot last Wednesday by Planet Labs Inc. later ana- maintained its nuclear program is peaceful. Netanyahu has also kept up The US Navy blamed a series of blasts in June 2019 in the Gulf of lyzed by The Associated Press appears to show an oil leak trailing be- his criticism of Iran’s nuclear deal, which if followed strictly limits Teh- Oman off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Iran. Video after hind the vessel. ran’s ability to enrich and stockpile uranium, blocking it from being able one blast showed Revolutionary Guard troops removing an unexploded While Iranian authorities described the damage done to the ship as to make a weapon. limpet mine from one targeted ship, something never fully explained by minor, fl ooding in the Saviz’s engine room would affect its ability to “History has taught us that deals like this, with extremist regimes like Tehran. power its propellers and move, as well as generate electricity for the this, are worth nothing,” Netanyahu said Wednesday at a Holocaust re- Who planted the fi rst explosive in this confl ict remains unclear. Ira- ship. If Iran is unable to pump the water out and fi x the damage at sea, membrance ceremony. “An agreement with Iran that will pave the way nian vessels similarly have suffered mysterious incidents at sea, with another vessel likely will need to come to aid it and perhaps even tow it for nuclear weapons — weapons that threaten us with destruction — we the fi rst public case involving an Iranian oil tanker in May 2019. As back to port for repairs. will not be obligated to such an agreement in any way. We have only time went on, Iran began acknowledging attacks on its own vessels, as Losing the Saviz would be a blow to Iran’s efforts to project power one obligation: to prevent anyone who seeks to destroy us from carrying recently as an explosion onboard a cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea into the Red Sea and the ongoing war in Yemen. Saudi military briefi ng out his plot.” in March. There’s yet to be a clear accounting of all the ships struck. papers earlier obtained by the AP show the kingdom believes the ship That suggests the shadowy war at sea will continue. And while it In recent weeks, Israel also publicly entered the confl ict. An Israeli- conducts both visual and electronic surveillance. Analysts at the Wash- hasn’t seen any reported deaths, a string of attacks in the 1980s on oil owned car carrier suffered an apparent limpet mine blast in February. ington Institute for Near-East Policy describe the vessel as an “Iranian tankers in the Persian Gulf did lead once to a one-day naval battle be- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the attack at mothership” and a fl oating armory. tween Iran and the US Any further incidents risk a further escalation as the time, saying: “Iran is the greatest enemy of Israel, I am determined to Iranian offi cials, however, so far have been trying to downplay the diplomats negotiate. (AP) These photos released by Nournews show the fl ooded engine room of the Iranian ship MV Saviz after being attacked in Red Sea off Yemen. (AP) editor’s choice.