DUBAI — A commercial vessel owned by an Israeli firm was
attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in Gulf waters, pro-Iran
media and an Israeli television channel said on Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 quoted unnamed Israeli
officials as blaming arch-foe Iran for the assault, which it described as a
missile strike. There were no casualties and the ship continued on its course,
the TV channel added.
Two maritime security sources told Reuters that an Israeli
ship was hit near the UAE’s Fujairah port resulting in an explosion but that
there were no casualties.
Officials in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
office and Israel’s Defense Ministry declined comment on the incident. A
spokesman for Israel’s Transportation Ministry said he was aware of the reports
but could not confirm them.
There was no immediate confirmation from the UAE.
The incident comes a day after Tehran accused Israel of
sabotaging a nuclear site, and after Iran and the United States began indirect
talks in Vienna on ways to revive world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen television channel, citing
sources, identified the vessel as Hyperion.
Refinitiv ship tracking data showed the Bahamas-flagged
vehicle carrier HYPERION RAY was headed to Fujairah port from Kuwait.
Unews news agency, also based in Lebanon, said the vessel
was transporting cars and had been at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi port 48 hours
earlier.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in
an advisory notice that it was aware of a possible incident near Fujairah and
that investigations were going on.
Last month an Iranian container ship was damaged in an
attack in the Mediterranean, two weeks after an Israeli-owned ship the MV
HELIOS RAY — owned by the same company as the Hyperion Ray according to a UN
shipping database — was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.
The incidents have occurred since US President Joe Biden
took office in January with a commitment to rejoin the 2015 nuclear pact —
abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in a move welcomed by Israel — if
Tehran returns to full compliance with the deal.
Iran said on Tuesday it would start enriching uranium to 60
percent purity, a move that would take the fissile material closer to the 90
percent suitable for a nuclear weapon.
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