| More on this report from yesterday. |
| JPost's take |
The United States Naval Institute (USNI) reported last year that the Saviz, while officially listed as a merchant ship, was likely a covert IRGC forward base. Tasnim confirmed this on Tuesday, saying that the ship had been stationed in the Red Sea in recent years to support Iranian commandos escorting commercial vessels.
According to the USNI, as of October 2020, the ship had barely moved from its location off the coast of Yemen for three years. The report stated that the Saviz may have been used to feed intelligence to Iran and the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen for a number of purposes, including to help them carry out strikes on maritime vessels in the area, with a number of strikes in recent years blamed on Iran and the Houthis.
The vessel reportedly showed up on independent ship tracking site MarineTraffic at about 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday before dropping off the map again at 9:44 a.m., according to social media reports.
The alleged incident, if true, comes after two strikes on Israeli vessels in the region and reports of dozens of earlier strikes carried out by Israel and Iran on each other's maritime vessels in locations ranging from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Late last month, an Iranian missile was reportedly fired at an Israeli ship between India and Oman, striking and damaging the ship. In February, Iran allegedly attacked the Israeli-owned cargo vessel MV Helios Ray, which was damaged by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.
Additionally in March, Maariv, The Jerusalem Post's sister publication, reported that dozens of Iranian ships had been attacked by Israel throughout the Middle East, after The Wall Street Journal reported that a dozen Iranian oil tankers headed to Syria had been attacked by Israel.
| The New York Times’ take: |
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and major world powers. Israel, which regards Iran as its most potent foe, strongly opposes a restoration of that agreement, which was abandoned by the Trump administration three years ago.
Several Iranian news outlets showed images of flames and smoke billowing from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea, but the full extent of the damage or any casualties was unclear.
The Saviz, though technically classified as a cargo ship, was the first vessel deployed for military use that is known to have been attacked in the Israeli-Iranian skirmishes.
A social media account of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said the vessel had been deployed in the Red Sea for some time to combat pirates. The Tasnim news agency, the media outlet of the Revolutionary Guards, said the Saviz had been damaged by a mine that had been attached to the vessel.
There was no official Iranian confirmation of the attack as of Tuesday night, but several Telegram social media channels operated by members of the Revolutionary Guards blamed Israel for the earth-shattering kaboom.
Israeli officials had not commented as of Tuesday night, and as a matter of policy they seldom confirm or deny responsibility for actions taken against Iran. But an American official said the Israelis had notified the United States that its forces had struck the vessel at about 7:30 a.m. local time.
Senior defence correspondent of Channel 13: “A spy ship and electronic surveillance of the Revolutionary Guards were attacked in the Red Sea. The ship was damaged, making it difficult for it to continue operating” https://t.co/eSWZ5cWAfy
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) April 6, 2021
Related:
Red Sea: 2021-04-06 Report: Iranian ship struck by missile in the Red Sea
Red Sea: 2021-04-05 Saudi-led coalition says foiled attack planned by Houthis in Yemen using an explosive-laden boat in Red Sea
Red Sea: 2021-03-28 Saudi-led coalition destroys Houthi rigged boats, drones - state media
Red Sea: 2021-04-06 Report: Iranian ship struck by missile in the Red Sea
Red Sea: 2021-04-05 Saudi-led coalition says foiled attack planned by Houthis in Yemen using an explosive-laden boat in Red Sea
Red Sea: 2021-03-28 Saudi-led coalition destroys Houthi rigged boats, drones - state media