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Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday (February 27, 2021) that his “initial assessment” was that Iran was responsible for the explosion directed at a ship owned by an Israeli company in the Gulf of Oman.
Gantz told the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (Kan), “Iran is looking to attack Israeli infrastructure and Israeli citizens … The location of the ship relatively close to Iran raises an idea and an assessment that the Iranians are the ones that they did. “” This is my assessment, so far, at the baseline level, given the proximity of the site and the context, “Gantz said.
The ship, named MV Helios Ray, was exposed to an explosion in the Gulf of Oman between Thursday and Friday morning. According to a United Nations shipping database, a Tel Aviv shipping company called “Ray Shipping” owns the ship through a company registered in the Isle of Man.
As reported on Saturday by the “Israel 24” news site, it is owned by an Israeli businessman and flies the Bahamian flag.
British maritime safety firm “Dryad Global” said the damaged ship, a car freighter, was coming from Saudi Arabia on its way to Singapore on Thursday when the explosion occurred, according to the German news agency (dpa).
The ship’s owner, Israeli businessman Rami Unger, said his ship was hit with missiles or sea mines. Israeli media quoted Unger as saying that “the damage is from two holes approximately 1.5 meters in diameter each, but so far it is not clear whether this is due to rocket fire or mines attached to the ship’s hull.”
But the “Israel 24” website cited an American intelligence expert, who did not reveal his identity, as claiming that the ship did not hit a marine mine, but was struck by a blow from the surface of the water.
It was unclear what caused the explosion so far and there were no reports of casualties. The UK Maritime Trade Operations Authority stated that the ship’s crew was fine, without elaborating on the cause of the explosion.
Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018, after then-US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and Tehran. the main countries.
Washington accused Iran of launching a series of attacks on ships in strategic Gulf waters, including four ships, including two Saudi tankers, in May 2019. Iran has disavowed those attacks.
PM / AH (Reuters, DPA)
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