The incident in the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea, which is the same region, was apparently carried out by a type of kamikaze drone. Iran has used these types of drones, sometimes called ababils or kasefs when they are assembled by the Houthis in Yemen. Equipment found in used drones by pro-Iran groups To attack Saudi Arabia and other countries Yemen and other places have been linked to Iran in the past. For example, tThese include the gyroscope on the Shaheed 123 drone. In May and June 2019, Iran reportedly used mines to attack six ships in the Gulf of Oman, leaving one badly damaged. No one has died in the previous incidents.
Iran-Israeli tensions have escalated this year and there have been reports of attacks on several ships belonging to Israel. In March, then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the attack on the Helios Ray ship belonging to Israel. The Hyperion Ray ship was also reportedly attacked in April. It was also a commercial ship belonging to Israel and according to foreign reports, the attack may have been carried out by Iran. At the time, reports stated that Hyperion Ray was partly owned by an Israeli businessman, but there were no Israeli citizens on board.
Reports in early July said a commercial ship previously owned by Israel was attacked in the northern Indian Ocean on 3 July. This was followed by the incident of 13 April and the incident of 25 March, which MT Lowry ship was involved, As well as the attack on Helios Ray on February 25.
During the same period, several Iranian ships suffered mysterious accidents. An Iranian naval ship destroyed by fire on 2 June, and a separate Iranian ship was damaged by a mine in the Red Sea, Allegedly An IRGC mother ship is conducting illegal surveillance in the area. On March 11, the Wall Street Journal also reported that several tankers linked to Iran had been attacked by Israel in previous years. The report said that “in an episode last month, suspected Israeli operatives attached a lame mine to attack an Iranian ship as it was anchored near Lebanon to deliver oil.”
What Is These reports are marked as no one has been killed. This changed on 30 July with reports that two had been killed in a recent attack. The use of drones was also a big growth. Ship operator Zodiac Maritime has given a statement regarding the attack, in which the attack has been described as piracy. However, the use of drones would point to a state sponsor, as most non-state actors do not have advanced drone technology capable of targeting ships and killing people. US Central Command chief Kenneth McKenzie has warned several times over the past year that drones are a major and emerging threat to the region. He has made reference to drones that are commercial and can be modified, such as quadcopters, but the real threat is Iranian drones being smuggled into groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iraqi militias and Syria.
A US official told the AP it was not yet clear who carried out the attack. “The remarks follow an earlier report by the private maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global, which had seen drones engaging the ship prior to the attack,” a report said. According to reports, London-based Zodiac Marine said that the ship is Liberia-flagged and was Japanese-owned. This is because the world of maritime shipping is often complex and involves complex ownership, different flags for ships and owners, and a web of ownership and operator agreements, along with multi-national crews. AFP says the oil tanker that was attacked is managed by a company owned by an Israeli businessman.
As The National reports, “The British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations said an investigation is underway into the incident, described as occurring late on Thursday, northeast of the Omani island of Masirah. Is.”
Iran Is It has been practicing the use of drones at sea in recent drills and missions, and has tested drones and missiles for precision strikes. Iran has also developed IRGC fast boats with small drones that can be launched from boats. Hours after the first reports of an attack on the tanker, the Saudis said they had also foiled a drone strike on a ship.
The emerging picture is that Iran was behind the attack and it was sophisticated. Iran has been careful about the use of drones to kill people in the past. In September 2019 it used more than a dozen drones and cruise missiles to strike Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility, but none were killed. Iranian drones have not killed US personnel in Iraq, but have targeted CIA hangars.
This means that it is a potential gamechanger. While there have been several incidents at sea over the past six months, the overall goal of those who carried them out appears to be to avoid casualties. For example, Iran mined ships in the Gulf of Oman in May and June 2019, but no one was killed. The question will be how countries that are now threatened can respond.
The National report says that the British military group said it was “investigating another unexplained incident in the same area, but did not elaborate.” It’s unclear but it seems to indicate that something else had happened.
The fact that a drone attacked an oil tanker is also an escalation from attacks on commercial cargo ships. Zodiac said of the incident, “The ship was in the northern Indian Ocean at the time of the incident, traveling from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah, carrying no cargo.” The fact that the ship did not have any cargo could mean that whoever planned the attack did not want to risk a major oil spill. However, the fact that he killed two people points to a murderous act. It remains to be seen whether the international community and local naval powers take this seriously.