The attack on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea killed two of the crew, announced Friday its owner Zodiac Maritime, detained by an Israeli billionaire, the Jewish state accusing its sworn enemy, Iran, to be at the origin of the incident.
"
Iran is sowing violence and destruction in all corners of the region
", denounced an Israeli government official in a statement, adding that, "
wanting to target Israel
", Tehran had "
incriminated itself by killing foreign civilians
".
Read also: The Iranian Navy announces the loss of a large vessel in the Arabian Sea
"
Iran is not only Israel's problem, it is a global problem, and its behavior endangers the freedom of navigation and trade in the world,
" he added. Security experts have also raised the hypothesis of an Iranian origin in this attack, which took place in a strategic area where Israeli boats have already been targeted.
The US military said in a statement that US Navy forces, responding to a distress call, came to the aid of the crew and were able to see evidence of an attack. The first findings "
clearly indicate
" a drone-type attack, continues the army, specifying that US Navy ships escorted the tanker, with US personnel on board.
Earlier on Friday, Zodiac Maritime, an international company headquartered in London, announced on Twitter "
the death of two crew members: a Romanian national and a British national
" in an incident aboard the M / T Mercer Street. The latter is now sailing "
under the control of his crew to a place of safety, with an American naval escort
," added the firm which belongs to Israeli businessman and billionaire Eyal Ofer later.
In the United States, ally of Israel and enemy of Iran, the administration of Joe Biden has remained cautious.
"
We are monitoring the situation closely,
" said State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter.
“
We are cooperating with our foreign partners to establish the facts.
"
"
Security incident
"
According to the UKMTO maritime operations site, a counter-piracy body that reports to the British Navy, the attack was reported Thursday at 6:00 p.m. GMT, while it was underway, at around 152 nautical miles (280 kilometers). from the coasts of Oman. An official from the Oman Maritime Security Center said on Friday that the center had received information about an "
incident outside the territorial waters
" of the sultanate and sent a ship and military planes to fly over the area.
The British national who died in the attack worked for the security company Ambrey, which confirmed via its spokesperson the "
tragic
"
death
of its employee in a "
security incident
".
A spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defense said its headquarters in the region were currently investigating.
At the time of the incident, the tanker was sailing without cargo from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Fujairah, a coastal city in the United Arab Emirates, according to the owner, who operates the Japanese vessel.
The Arabian Sea is located between Iran and Oman, at the exit of the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which passes a large part of the world's oil and where a coalition led by the United States operates.
Shipping in the area was the target of frequent piracy a decade ago, but incidents have declined markedly in recent years after increased patrols by maritime forces from several countries.
"
Significant escalation
"
Analysts have linked the attack to earlier incidents.
Two ships operated by the Israeli company Ray Shipping were attacked earlier this year.
Meir Javedanfar, a security expert at Israeli University IDC Herzliya, said Iran was "
very likely
" behind the attack.
According to him, the Iranians "
feel at a disadvantage when it comes to responding to attacks in Iran and associated with Israel
", including the April 11 explosion at the Natanz nuclear complex, blamed by Tehran on the state. Hebrew.
"
The attack on MT Mercer Street is now considered the fifth attack against a ship connected to Israel,
" noted analysts at Dryad Global, a London-based maritime security company, citing further "
retaliation in the war of the shadow given over by the two
enemy
powers
.
Read also: An Israeli boat hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman
In Iran, the Arabic-language state television channel quoted "
informed sources in the region
" that the attack was a response to a "
recent Israeli attack
" in Syria, without giving further details. The deaths of two crew members, however, represent "
a significant escalation of events,
" Dryad Global ruled, advising clients that the risk to commercial vessels associated with Israel and Iran in the Gulf Waterway was now "
Increased
".
