Reuters Jon Nazca
The American Wall Street Journal revealed on Thursday that Israel has targeted at least 12 Iranian oil tankers or Iranian oil tankers destined for Syria during the past year and a half.
In a report based on US and regional officials’ statements, the newspaper stated that since late 2019, Israel has used weapons, including naval mines, to strike Iranian ships or those carrying Iranian cargo while heading to Syria, in attacks carried out in the Red Sea and other areas in the region.
The report stated that the Israeli attacks also targeted Iranian cargo ships transporting other goods, including arms shipments. He pointed out that “no attacks against Iranian oil tankers had previously been detected, noting that Iranian officials had announced attacks targeting their naval vessels earlier, and said that they suspected Israel of involvement.”
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The newspaper considered that the Israeli attacks on Iranian oil tankers “represent a new dimension in the Israeli campaign to confront Iran’s military and economic positioning in the region,” noting that “since 2018, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes, most of them on areas in Syria, to prevent Iran from consolidating its influence. Regional “.
The report stated that the Israeli attacks came in anticipation that Iran would benefit from oil profits to finance its “arms” in the Middle East, noting that the sale of Iranian oil continued despite the US sanctions imposed on Iran and the international imposed on Syria.
The report claimed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is the one who controls Iranian oil shipments destined for Syria, and that the purpose of these Iranian operations is to circumvent the sanctions imposed on both Iran and Syria in order to “finance the Revolutionary Guards,” stressing that “such shipments are often It is carrying hundreds of millions of dollars of oil. “
The “Wall Street Journal” quoted “regional military officials” as saying that “shippers often announce wrong destinations for oil tankers, and use old rusty tankers to avoid dangers, and sometimes transfer oil from one ship to another at sea to avoid detection.”
The Independent newspaper reported on Thursday that an Iranian merchant ship was hit by a possible air-to-ground missile near the territorial waters of Syria.
Source: “The Wall Street Journal”