Tehran announced Wednesday that an Iranian commercial vessel cruising in the Red Sea was damaged by explosives of unknown origin the day before. According to the media, the attack could be a “retaliatory” attack by Israel. In the tense atmosphere between Israel and Iran, the two rival countries have been accusing each other of attacking their own ships since early March.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Wednesday that “the Iranian merchant ship Saviz was slightly damaged by explosives in the Red Sea off the coast of Djibouti at around 6 p.m. local time on April 6, and the cause of the explosion is under investigation.”
He said, “The accident caused no casualties and a technical investigation is underway to determine the circumstances and causes. He added: “Our country will take all necessary measures in this regard through international authorities.”
The identity of the Saviz is still unclear: according to Iran’s Iranian Foreign Ministry, the ship is a “civilian vessel” responsible for “maritime security. According to Iran’s private Tasnim News Agency, the “Saviz” is a vessel used by the Iranian Armed Forces.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed that Iran had previously informed the UN-affiliated International Maritime Organization that the “Saviz” was a “civilian ship (…) that is deployed in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area to ensure the safety of the shipping lanes in the region.” He added that “the ship is actually a logistics station providing technical and logistical support in the Red Sea .
Magnetic mines
The pro-Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Tasnim News Agency earlier quoted unnamed sources at the Iranian Defense Ministry as saying that the Saviz was damaged by a magnetic mine that blew up its hull. It also said that the damaged Saviz has been patrolling the Red Sea for the past few years in support of Iranian commandos deployed to escort merchant ships in the area.
According to the specialized website MarineTraffic, the Saviz is a cargo ship owned by Iran’s state-owned shipping company IRISL and was launched in 1999.
Israel’s Shadow
So, who fired the magnetic mines at the Iranian ship? According to an official U.S. source quoted by New Times, the Israelis informed the U.S. that their forces launched an attack on the (Saviz) at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The same source added that “the Saviz was damaged below the waterline.” The Israelis described the attack as a retaliatory measure for an earlier Iranian attack on an Israeli ship.”
AFP said Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to Newseum’s claims. Ram Ben Barak, a member of Israel’s parliament and former deputy director of the intelligence agency Mossad, said on Israeli radio Wednesday morning that he did not know if the news was true about Newseum and that if it was, “then it seems that someone is trying to make it clear to (the Iranians) that we also know how to do damage to a ship, no matter where it is. cause damage. They should be careful.”
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