Wall Street Journal: Israel Attacked 12 Ships Carrying Iranian Oil to Syria

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, March 12, that Israel has targeted at least 12 ships since late 2019, most of which were carrying Iranian oil to Syria.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, these attacks began in late 2019 and targeted Iranian vessels as well as other ships carrying Iranian oil and weapons shipments.

According to the report, these attacks occurred in the Red Sea and in other locations. Some of the targeted ships were also carrying Iranian weapons.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the Wall Street Journal states that attacks on these Iranian oil tankers did not result in sinking the vessels, and in two cases, the tankers were forced to return to Iran.

The report adds that Israel’s actions were aimed at halting Iranian oil trade, as it believes Iran uses revenues from oil sales to fund extremist groups in the region.

According to the report, Iran, one of the main supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has exported weapons and oil to Syria in recent years in defiance of international sanctions.

The Wall Street Journal states that Israeli officials have refused to comment on this report.

Iran’s representative office at the United Nations has also not responded to the Wall Street Journal’s inquiry on this matter.

Iranian officials reported in September 2019 of an attack on the Sabiti oil tanker in the Red Sea “by one or more states.”

Islamic Republic officials implicitly accused Saudi Arabia of involvement in the attack, but Saudi officials denied the claim.

Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, had stated that the attack was carried out with at least two missile strikes.

He added: “Our oil tanker also had cameras and it is clear from which direction the missiles came and how they hit. The rocket fragments have also been collected.”

The Wall Street Journal states that Iranian ships misreport their destinations to avoid international tracking and monitoring, or transfer oil cargo at sea from one tanker to another, or transport their cargo using old tankers that cannot be identified.

As this news was published, Gila Gamliel, Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister, said last week that Iran was responsible for “environmental terrorism” through recent oil pollution on Israel’s shores.

The Israeli minister added that her country “discovered” that the tanker responsible for a massive oil spill in the Mediterranean waters near Israel’s coast had departed from Iran.

Gila Gamliel also stated that the tanker loaded its oil from Iran, departed from the Persian Gulf, and on the night of February 2, after passing through the Suez Canal, switched off its radar as it approached Israel’s coast, and after spilling oil, turned its radar back on upon nearing Syrian shores.

On the other hand, Israel also accused Iran of being responsible for an attack with mines or rockets on an Israeli cargo ship carrying vehicles in the Oman Sea. Iran has categorically denied this accusation.

Source: Radio Farda