Several Iranian drones used in deadly attack on Israeli-operated ship – report

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Unnamed Israeli officials told the New York Times on Saturday that several Iranian drones appeared to have been used in a raid on an oil tanker operated by an Israeli-owned company, killing two on board.

Israeli officials told the newspaper that the strike was apparently carried out by a number of Iranian drones that crashed into the ship’s apartment buildings below the ship’s command post while it was sailing off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea.

An American official, who was not named, confirmed to the newspaper that several drones took part in the attack, but it is not yet known how many aircraft hit the ship.

An Israeli intelligence official also told the newspaper that the timing of Thursday’s attack could mean that Iran was expanding its naval operations by apparently responding at sea to a land attack that Tehran blamed on Israel.

Previously, Iran carried out naval attacks only in response to naval operations attributed to Israel.

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The state-owned Iranian news network, citing “informed sources,” said the attack came in response to an Israeli raid in Syria that killed “two resistance men” last week.

In this photo provided by the US Navy, sailors assigned to an explosive ordnance unit board an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to head for an oil tanker that has been attacked off the coast of Oman in Arabia. Sea on July 30, 2021 (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Quinton A. Lee/US Navy, via AP)

The strike on the oil tanker Mercer Street Thursday night is the first known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran.

Two of the ship’s crew, a British and a Romanian, were killed in the attack – an unnamed senior Israeli official said on Channel 12 and Channel 13 news on Friday that the Roman dead appeared to be the captain, while the British man was a security guard.

“This is an Iranian terrorist attack that killed two innocent men and harmed international shipping,” the official said.

On Saturday, the US military said that after inspecting the ship, US Navy sappers believed a “drone strike” had targeted the oil tanker.

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet said in a statement early Saturday that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided-missile destroyer USS Mitcher were escorting Mercer Street as it headed to a safe port.

“US Navy Explosives experts are on board to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are ready to support the investigation of the attack,” the Fifth Fleet said. “Initial indications clearly point to a (drone) attack.”

The Fifth Fleet statement did not explain how it determined that a drone had caused the damage, though it did describe explosives experts as finding “clear visual evidence of an attack” aboard Mercer Street.

The US military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to questions about the evidence.

Israel’s defense leadership met Friday night to discuss what it believed to be an Iranian attack on the ship, with a high-ranking government source accusing Tehran of “sowing destruction” and saying it was proving to be a “global problem”.

A senior Israeli government source, who asked not to be named, said, “Iran is sowing violence and destruction in every corner of the region. They were so eager to attack an Israeli target that they involved themselves and criminalized themselves by killing foreign citizens.”

The source said that with a new hard-line Iranian president sworn in, “the masks are taken off and no one can pretend they don’t know the character of the Iranian regime.”

Iran is not only Israel’s problem, it is a global problem, and its behavior threatens freedom of navigation and global trade. Our campaign against them will continue.”

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, in a statement Friday evening, said he was in constant contact with his British counterpart Dominic Raab and “indicated to him the need to respond strongly to the attack.”

Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid speaks during a party meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, July 19, 2021 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

He said, “Iran is not only an Israeli problem, it is a source of terrorism, destruction and instability that harms us all.” The world must not remain silent in the face of Iranian terrorism.

“I have instructed the embassies in Washington, London and the United Nations to work with their government interlocutors and relevant delegations at United Nations Headquarters in New York,” Lapid wrote on Twitter.

Explosions near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on July 19, 2021, following a reported Israeli air strike (Screencapture/Twitter)

In the wake of the attack, Defense Minister Benny Gantz called for an urgent discussion with IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi and other defense officials on Friday.

An Israeli official, quoted by the Ynet news website, hinted at the possibility of retaliation, saying it would be difficult for Israel to ignore the latest attack.

“The only question is how and when we will respond,” Walla News quoted an Israeli official as saying.

Analysts said the attack bore all the hallmarks of mutual exchanges in the shadow war between Israel and Iran, in which ships associated with each country were targeted in the waters around the Gulf.

The attack represents the worst known naval violence to date in regional attacks on shipping since 2019. The United States, Israel and others have blamed the attacks on Iran amid the unraveling of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Illustrative: Screenshot from a video allegedly showing Iranian drone footage of an Israeli-owned cargo ship damaged by a mysterious explosion in the Persian Gulf, February 26, 2021. (YouTube)

Zodiac Maritime is a London-based company owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. Earlier this month, a UAE-bound ship formerly owned by Ofer was bombed in the northern Indian Ocean.

The company said that while it operates the Liberian-flagged tanker Mercer Street, the ship’s owner is Japanese.

And she added, on Friday, that she was not aware of any other injuries except for the deaths of two crew members.

“Our primary concern remains the safety and well-being of everyone on board and all those affected by the situation. The company added that the details of the accident are still ongoing and an investigation into the accident is currently underway.

In recent months, Israel and Iran have accused each other of attacking and damaging a number of merchant ships with explosives. In each case, the ships sustained minor damage and there were no accidents.

Emmanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

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