Iran carried out the attack on an Israeli-owned cargo ship sailing in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, the ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan, considered a mouthpiece for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asserted on Sunday, saying the act was a reprisal for alleged Israeli strikes against Iranian assets in Syria and Iraq.
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Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Saturday his "initial assessment" was that Iran was responsible for an explosion on the MV Helios Rayan, a vehicle-carrier.
The ship suffered an explosion between Thursday and Friday morning. A US defense official in Washington said the blast left holes above the waterline on both sides of the hull. No injuries were reported in the attack, but the ship had to turn back, as it was in no condition to sail on.
"The crimes committed by the Zionist regime have made it a legitimate target," Kayhan stated. "The routine attacks in Syria and Iraq have made the Zionists think they can ignore the warnings of the axis of resistance.
"The strike on the Zionist ship, which caused no casualties and left no trace of the perpetrators, was obviously very professional," the Iranian daily noted.
Speaking with Kan 11 News on Saturday, Gantz said, "Iran is looking to hit Israeli infrastructure and Israeli citizens. The location of the ship in relatively close proximity to Iran, which raises the assessment that the Iranians are involved," Gantz said.
"Right now, at an initial assessment level, given the proximity and the context, that is my assessment," Gantz said, adding a deeper investigation still had to be carried out.
The ship is owned by a Tel Aviv company called Ray Shipping through a company registered in the Isle of Man, according to a UN shipping database.
Channel 13 News said defense officials believed the Iranian navy had launched a precision strike to avoid casualties, firing two missiles at a part of the ship that if damaged would not have sunk the vessel.
It added an Israeli delegation was en route to Dubai, where the ship was docked, to investigate.
Kan named the owner as Rami Ungar and quoted him on Friday as saying: "The damage is two holes, diameter approximately 1.5 meters, but it is not yet clear to us if this was caused by missile fire or mines that were attached to the ship."
Iran said in November it would make a "calculated" response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist, which it blamed on Israel.
Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-president Donald Trump withdrew Washington from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.
Washington has blamed Iran for a number of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters, notably on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, in May 2019. Iran has denied carrying out those attacks.
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