14 Apr 2021; MEMO: A third Israeli ship was attacked near the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday raising suspicion that tensions between Iran and the Zionist state are being exploited for personal political ambitions.
Israeli defence sources confirmed the attack and pointed the finger at Iran. They claimed that the attack took place in international waters and was likely carried out using an unmanned drone or a missile strike.
The ship is said to be owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar, but there were no Israeli nationals on board and the ship did not sail under an Israeli flag.
Israeli security officials are refusing to concede that the Zionist state had anything to do with the rise in tension. They claim that these strikes may be the result of falsely attributing attacks on Iran to Israel. Bizarrely their suspicion is that there are political officials in Iran who want to exploit Israel's tensions with the Islamic Republic for personal needs.
The latest attack took place over the weekend when there was a blackout on Iran's Natanz nuclear plant. The incident occurred amid diplomatic efforts by Iran and the United States to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, an accord Israel fiercely opposed, after former US President Donald Trump abandoned it three years ago.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif explicitly blamed Israel. "The Zionists want to take revenge because of our progress in the way to lift sanctions…They have publicly said that they will not allow this. But we will take our revenge against the Zionists," Zarif was quoted by state TV as saying.
Multiple Israeli media outlets have quoted unnamed intelligence sources as saying the country's Mossad spy service carried out a successful sabotage operation at the underground Natanz complex, potentially setting back enrichment work thereby months. Israel has not formally commented on the incident.
Last week, an Iranian cargo ship, the MV Saviz, believed to be a base for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen, was also attacked. Israel called it a "retaliatory" attack.
Yesterday, the US offered its full support to Israel with the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reaffirming the Biden administration's "unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to ensuring that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon".
