Reports in the US media that Israel has been targeting Iranian vessels, including the container vessel Shahr E Kord, in the Eastern Medditerranean region have been met with some scepticism by security firm Dryad Global as tensions in the Middle East remain high.
[s2If is_user_logged_in()]According to the Wall Street Journal, which quotes un-named US security personnel, Israel has opened a new front in its conflict with Iran and has targeted up to a dozen ships which it says were transporting oil or arms in support of Iran’s regional military ambitions, particularly in Syria, in contravention of sanctions against Syria.
However, Dryad Global partner Munro Anderson, told Container News, “Focusing on Israeli activity to date, Israel’s actions show no signs of being commensurate with such a strategy. Such a strategy would require a more robust response to Iranian shipments and would inevitably involve a blockade or strategy of access denial.”
Such a move would be a major escalation of the conflict, said Anderson, and could lead to the spread of the conflict to other areas.
“Instead the actions we have seen, namely sabotage of selected vessels are far more commensurate with a tit-for-tat strategy of forceful diplomacy and signalling. Israel has both the capability and intent to target Iranian vessels wherever these may be, the question is to what end?” added Munro.
The latest reports came after an explosion on an Iranian container vessel, Shahr E Kord, occurred while the ship was in the Eastern Mediterranean offshore from Haifa, Israel.
Unconfirmed reports from Dryad Global, said, “Unverified imagery appears to indicate that an explosion occurred within one or more central containers in the forward portion of the vessel. Imagery appears to show crew members with firefighting equipment, and the debris of a destroyed container. Images of the destroyed container display significant signs of overpressure and peeling indicating that it is a realistic possibility that the explosion originated from within the container.”
Moreover, Dryad Global’s analysis of the ship’s movements on 10 March and before the explosion show that the vessel was behaving in an erratic manner. The security firm said the vessel transited the Bab Al Mandab strait on 2 or 3 March, “where she is assessed to have called alongside the Iranian-flagged Saviz.” The Saviz is suspected of supporting military operations in the Red Sea.
Shahr E Kord then transited through the Suez Canal and at 133km west northwest of Haifa the vessel performs several drastic alterations in its course and speed, before heading on its original course and speed northwards.
Dryad Global believes that the Israeli forces have the capability and the intent to carry out such complex attacks, but the company continues to have reservations about the “validity of Iranian media claims regarding the alleged attack against the Shahr E Kord,” which it says “remain uncertain at this time”.
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