JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iman of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman, a mysterious explosion that has fueled security concerns in the region.
Without giving any evidence of his claim, Netanyahu told Israeli public broadcaster Kan that “it was really done by Iran, it is clear.”
“Iran is Israel’s biggest enemy, and I’m determined to stop it. We’re hitting the whole area, “Netanyahu said. Iran immediately denied the allegations.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a car packed with Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged Roll-No, Roll-Vehicle freight ship en route to the Middle East en route to Singapore. The crew was not harmed, but U.S. defense officials said the ship survived two holes on its side and two holes on its starboard side.
The ship arrived at the port of Dubai on Sunday for repairs, days after the blast revived security concerns in the Mediast waterways amid intense tensions with Iran.
Iran urges US to lift sanctions on Tehran President Joe Biden’s administration sees an option to return to talks on a nuclear program with Iran. Biden has repeatedly said that the U.S. The nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers will return to what its predecessor, Donald Trump, withdrew in 2018 after Iran re-established full compliance with the agreement.
The explosion on an Israeli-owned ship last week was reminiscent of the tense summer of 2019, when the U.S. military accused Iran of attacking several oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, designed to magnetize the ship’s tank. The Gulf of Man, beyond the Strait of Hormuz, is an important route for the world’s oil supply. Tehran has denied allegations that it was behind the Limpate mine attack.
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. The ship was dropped off at various ports in the Persian Gulf before the explosion forced it to return. Over the weekend, both Israel’s defense minister and army chief indicated that they held Iran responsible for what they said was an attack on the ship.
Reacting to Netanyahu’s statement, Iran said it “strongly denies” that it was behind the attack. In a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Netanyahu was “suffering from passion with Iran” and called his allegations “frightening.”
Khatibzadeh also accused Israel of taking “suspicious action” in the region in recent months against Iran for undermining the 2015 nuclear deal, and vowed that Iran would respond.
“Israel knows very well that our response to national security has always been sharp and accurate,” he said.
Overnight, Syrian state media reported a series of Israeli airstrikes near Damascus, saying air defense systems had intercepted most of the missiles. Israeli media reports said the alleged air strike was on Iranian targets in response to the ship’s attack.
In recent years, Israel has attacked hundreds of Iranian targets in neighboring Syria, and Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Israel will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence there. Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah have provided military assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the decades-long Syrian civil war.
The Israeli military declined to comment.
Iran has also blamed Israel for a series of recent attacks, including another mysterious explosion last summer that destroyed a state-of-the-art centrifuge assembly plant at its Natz nuclear facility, including the Islamic Republic of Iran. Decades ago. Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge Fakhrizadeh’s assassination.
“It is important that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, with or without an agreement, I told my friend Biden,” Netanyahu said on Monday.
Israel has threatened retaliation after signing a normalization deal with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in September, sparking outrage in Israel.
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Associated Press writers Isabel DeBray in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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