New Israeli tanker attack raises Mideast Gulf tensions

Iran's foreign ministry has dismissed accusations levelled against it by Tel Aviv that it was behind an attack on an Israeli-owned oil tanker in the Arabian Sea earlier this month.

The Liberia-flagged Campo Square oil product tanker was targeted by an "airborne object" late on 10 February while it was sailing around 300 miles off the coasts of India and Oman, its management company Eletson confirmed to Argus today. Oil analytics firm Vortexa says the vessel is linked with ship management company Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Ofer Global conglomerate owned by Israeli billionaire real estate and shipping magnate Eyal Ofer.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 19 February accused Iran of being behind the attack on the vessel, saying the incident "struck at the international freedom of navigation".

"We reject this accusation," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. "The Zionist regime is used to making accusations, but Iran will continue its efforts to maintain the security and freedom of navigation in international waters," he added.

As a country that "endangers the security of others and does not adhere to the security of other countries", Israel "has no right to make accusations against others", Kanaani said.

According to Eletson, the incident took place while the vessel was free of cargo and resulted only in "minor damage". The ship and crew are all safe "and proceeding as per planned passage," it said. Vortexa today put the vessel in the Red Sea, travelling towards the Suez Canal.

Move to sea

The attack comes amid rising tensions in the region, particularly between Iran and its arch-rival Israel, as talks between Tehran and Washington aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal remain deadlocked.

"On the Iranian front, our efforts are unceasing for the simple reason that Iran's acts of aggression are unceasing," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting. In addition to the tanker incident, "Iran attacked an American base in Syria. Iran continues to send deadly weapons that attack masses of innocent civilians far from its borders", he said.

Israel "will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, and we will not allow it to entrench on our northern border", he said, in reference to Lebanon's Iran-backed Islamist militant group Hezbollah. "We are doing, and will do, everything to defend our people, and we are responding forcefully to the attacks against us."

This latest incident appears to represent the latest chapter in an ongoing shadow war between the two countries that has moved to sea, with several vessels, linked either to the UAE or Israel, having come under attack in the Mideast Gulf in recent years.

In November last year, the Pacific Zircon, which is managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS), was hit by a projectile off the Omani coast. EPS is owned by Idan Ofer, Eyal's younger brother. Prior to that, in July 2021, there was an attack on the Japanese-owned product tanker Mercer Street, which is managed by Zodiac Maritime. And earlier that year, Israel blamed Iran for an explosion on an Israeli-owned car carrier vessel in the Gulf of Oman. Iran has denied involvement in all three incidents.

By Nader Itayim