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An Iranian cargo ship on the Red Sea off Yemen (2020)
Photo: - / dpa
According to information, an Iranian ship was damaged in a mine explosion in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening.
The exact background was still unclear on Wednesday.
Israel initially did not comment on a report in the New York Times alleging that it was an Israeli attack.
"We do not comment on foreign media reports," said an Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv.
The New York Times quoted an unnamed US representative who said Israel had informed the US that its armed forces had attacked the ship.
It is a response to previous Iranian attacks on Israeli ships.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran in March for an explosion on the cargo ship of an Israeli company in the Gulf of Oman.
"A minor damage without injuries"
The Iranian news agency Tasnim had reported that the ship "Iran-Saviz" ran into a mine in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening and was damaged by the explosion.
The spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Defense, Saeed Khatibzadeh, confirmed that an "attack" had occurred on the ship.
The explosion occurred on Tuesday morning near the coast of Djibouti.
"It caused minor damage with no injuries," said Khatibzadeh.
According to him, the ship was in action against pirates.
According to the Tasnim news agency, it was supposed to be escorting Iranian merchant ships in the Red Sea.
According to the US website GlobalSecurity.org, the damaged freighter is being used by the Navy of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
In recent years there have been repeated indications of a "shadow war" between Israel and Iran.
Israel has been Iran's number one archenemy since the Islamic revolution 42 years ago.
Israel regularly attacks targets in Syria - these attacks are often directed against pro-Iranian militias.
Israel wants to push back the military influence of Iran, which is allied with the government in Damascus, in the neighboring civil war country.
ire / dpa / Reuters