Israel launched attacks on Iranian ships

Washington: A US news outlet has claimed that Israel has carried out at least 12 attacks on Iranian ships smuggling oil and weapons to Syria in the past two years. Some of the ships were bombed by Israel, the daily said. A few hours ago, an explosion occurred in a cargo ship travelling through the Red Sea and caught fire. The vessel is said to be from Iran. Under such circumstances, the news published by the American newspaper assumes much significance.

The US daily ‘The Wall Street Journal’ reported on Thursday that Israel had attacked Iran’s oil and cargo ships. The report informs about Israeli action in the Red Sea area since 2019. The Israeli army targeted vessels carrying oil and weapons for Syria. Some of the ships belonged to Iran, while some of them were carrying Iranian oil and arms. As per the US news outlet, Israel had launched the attacks to cripple Iran’s economy by curbing illegal oil exports.

Iran cannot sell oil to other countries under US sanctions. The United States and Israel have accused Iran of using the proceeds from such oil exports to execute terrorist activities in Israel and other Middle East nations. Israel has thereby taken action against the ships to stop Iran’s illegal oil exports, the US newspaper stated.

In addition, Israel accuses Iran of arming anti-Israel Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations by smuggling weapons from cargo ships. According to the American newspaper, Israel has also cracked down on Iran’s arms smuggling with the action. Besides, Israel bombed some of the vessels, the US news outlet said. The American daily has published some photographs to support its claims.

The newspaper has said that the information was published citing the US and some Middle Eastern officials. Iran, however, declined to comment on the claims. Some traders from Iran’s shipping industry have acknowledged that ships travelling through the Red Sea region have been attacked. The traders also admitted that at least two Iranian vessels had to return after the blast. ‘Neither the Iranian government nor the authorities will acknowledge the incidents. If they do, it could send a message that Iran is weak as it did not respond to Israeli attacks,’ the trader explained to the US daily.

Meanwhile, according to some media reports, an oil tanker travelling through the Red Sea region on Thursday reportedly suffered a mysterious explosion and caught fire. The motive behind the blast could not be ascertained, although the ship is believed to be the Iranian vessel Shahr e Kord. Photographs of this ship have also been published. But neither the Iranian government nor the media have reported the incident.

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