Substantive disagreements on the matter arose at a Feb. Are the Iranians, like Hezbollah, trying to strike a new balance of mutual deterrence by tit-for-tat attacks? What should Israel do? Should it respond to the Iranian action or ignore it, assuming that Iran is still way behind Israel in the war of attrition the two countries are waging against each other?
Israel must now assess whether the attack constitutes a change in Iran’s strategy or retaliatory response to all the military strikes of recent years on Iranian targets, mostly in Syria, attributed to Israel. The vessel is now anchored in Dubai where it is undergoing a meticulous examination by Israeli experts in an effort to determine conclusively just how the attack was mounted. Iran, for its part, has denied any connection to the attack. The Iranians know they were targeting an Israeli-owned ship.”
“We have evidence that it was an Iranian operation and we believe it was not a random event. “Iran is the only country with such capabilities in that location,” a senior Israeli security official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Contrary to its initial assessment that the Helios Ray was hit by missiles, experts now believe a commando raid, probably using small speed boats, placed explosives on the ship’s hull and sped away. Israel also believes that while the Iranian assailants could have easily sunk the ship, they opted to inflict only limited damage. Israel believes Iran knew the vessel was Israeli-owned and targeted it in retaliation for the repeated blows it has sustained on its facilities in the region in the ongoing military campaign dubbed “the war between the wars.” The MV Helios Ray, flying a Bahamian flag, is owned by Israeli shipping magnate and vehicle importer Rami Unger, who also happens to be a close friend of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Israeli officials have avoided answering reporters’ questions of whether a response was in the works.
Helios ray attack how to#
All that was left was for Israel to decide whether and how to respond. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said so personally in various interviews on March 1, joining similar public comments by Defense Minister Benny Gantz and the chief of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt. It took Israel 48 hours to conclude with certainty that Iran was behind the attack on the Israeli-owned vessel. It is no less significant than the sounds of explosions caused by a US attack a day earlier on Iranian targets in Syrian territory. 26 in the Gulf of Oman, ripping holes in the port and starboard sides of an Israeli-owned cargo vessel, is still resonating throughout the region. The blast that shattered the silence on Feb.
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