Jerusalem, 19 February, 2023 (TPS) — In his opening comments at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Iran recently attacked an Israeli shipping vessel in the Persian Gulf.
Unconfirmed Mideast media reports said that Iranian drones attacked the “Campo Square,” a Liberian-flagged tanker owned by the Zodiac Maritime Company, owned by Israeli shipping tycoon Eyal Ofer. The Prime Minister’s remarks were the first Israeli confirmation of the attack.
“Against the Iranian front, our efforts do not stop for a simple reason, because Iran’s acts of aggression do not stop. Last week, Iran again attacked an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf and violated international freedom of navigation,” Netanyahu said.
No casualties or substantial damage reported in the attack, which was attributed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The IRGC is tasked with defending Iran’s clerical regime and preventing Iran’s army from seizing power. The IRGC also spearheads Iran’s relations with proxy militias abroad such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis and is deeply involved in Iran’s nuclear and aerospace programs.
Referring to a separate report by Syria’s state-controlled Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) published on Saturday, Netanyahu added that Iran also attacked a US military base in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor with rocket fire.
“Yesterday Iran attacked an American base in Syria. Iran continues to send deadly weapons that harm masses of innocent civilians far from its borders. Iran is constantly trying to harm the State of Israel and its citizens wherever they are in different parts of the world. Iran’s attacks will not let us down,” the Prime Minister said.
Since 2019, Israel has reportedly attacked numerous Iranian vessels illicitly carrying weapons and oil bound for Syria while Iran has attacked a number of Israeli civilian vessels.
The “shadow war,” as Israelis refer to it, came into the spotlight in 2021 with a number of attacks. In February 2021, the Israeli-owned “Helios Ray” was damaged in a mysterious explosion attributed to Iran while traversing the Gulf of Oman. In March, the Israeli-owned “Lori” was hit by a missile in the same area. In April, the “Saviz,” an Iranian intelligence-gathering ship, was struck by a mine in the Red Sea, and in June, the “Kharg,” the largest ship in the Iranian Navy caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman. In July, Iran attacked the “CSAV Tyndall,” erroneously believing the cargo ship was also owned by Ofer and the “Mercer Street.”
