IOF Navy raises state of alert in Red Sea over Iran attack scare

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
19 Feb 23:51
3 Shares

Israeli media is talking about increasing worry in the Israeli occupation about Iranian attacks on Israeli ships, prompting an increased state of alert in the Red Sea.

Israeli Navy sailors man the deck of the Israeli Navy Ship Atzmaut, in the Mediterranean Sea, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021 (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The Israeli Navy has increased its state in the Red Sea amid fears that Iran would conduct an attack on ships that belong to Israeli businessmen, Israeli Walla! news website reported on Sunday.

The Israeli website claimed that Iranians attacked last week a ship owned by Eyal Ofer, the chairman of Zodiac Maritime, an international ship management company, almost a month after the UAV attack that targeted the Iranian city of Isfahan.

Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously addressed the incident, saying "Iran is behind an attack that an oil tanker was subjected to in Gulf waters last week," Reuters news agency reported.

Israeli journalist and Walla! military affairs correspondent Amir Bohbot said that over the past year, "The Iranians have bolstered their presence in the Red Sea."

This issue "is prompting concerns in the Israeli security establishment, as well as other parties that perceive the Red Sea as strategically important."

Israeli media claimed Friday that Iran was trying to stabilize the equation of response to the Israeli attacks, by attacking Israeli ships at sea.

Israeli Channel 12's news website considered that since the series of assassinations of senior Iranian scientists until the drone attack on the factory in Isfahan, Iran has been trying to avenge these operations.

But now, Tehran is trying to establish a response equation, but through a slightly different method, claiming that this is the fifth time that Iranian forces have attacked ships in connection with "Israel".

In the past, according to Channel 12, Tehran tried to attack ships that it knew were Israeli in response to attacks on Iranian ships that the world attributed to "Israel". However, the Iranians now decided to change the equation and attack Israeli ships in response to ground attacks.

This comes after Israeli media on Friday cited reports as saying that Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly targeted last week an oil tanker, Campo Square, operating on behalf of Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Maritime shipping company.

Israeli media quoted senior security sources as saying that the alleged attack is an Iranian attempt to retaliate against "Israel" for the activities attributed to it.

Israeli Channel 12's military affairs commentator claimed that the attack is part of the battle that the Iranians are leading against "Israel", adding that the Iranians are trying to attack and retaliate against "Israel", and this attack is an example of that.

In the same context, BBC Farsi cited a US military official and a high-ranking military source in the region as saying that several Iranian ships and drones were used in the attack on the tanker.

According to BBC Farsi, the Campo Square tanker sails under the flag of Liberia, but its associated shipping companies are based in the UK and Greece.

The report noted that the Campo Square attack is not the first of its kind, as the tanker is the third Ofer vessel to be reportedly attacked within the past two years.