Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman blames Israel for cargo ship attack

There is growing concern about an emerging war of sabotage between the two nations

Iranian container ship 'Shahr e Kord' at Haydarpasa port in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2019. Reuters

The “finger of blame” for a recent attack on an Iranian cargo ship points to Israel, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

The Iranian vessel, Shahr e Kord, was hit by an explosive object last week in the Mediterranean, causing a small fire on-board.

Mr Khatibzadeh said reports confirmed an act of sabotage in breach of international law, state media said.

“Measures to identify the perpetrators of this sabotage action are on the agenda,” he said.

“[But] the finger of blame is directed at Israel in the incident targeting the Iranian ship."

The incident was originally reported by a semi-official news agency in Iran, quoting one of the investigators.

“Considering the geographical location and the way the ship was targeted, one of the strong possibilities is that this terrorist operation was carried out by the Zionist regime," he said, using a derogatory name for Israel.

Israel has largely stayed quiet on the most recent incident as well as the alleged targeting of 12 vessels, unidentified US officials told the Wall Street Journal.

There are now growing concerns that, following a series of sabotage attacks on oil tankers in the spring and summer of 2019 in the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman respectively, a repeat of the 1980s "tanker wars" could occur, when Iran and Iraq frequently targeted commercial vessels.

The 2019 attacks on oil tankers were attributed to Iranian commandos by US intelligence.

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz did not comment directly about the latest incident but said: “We foil arms supplies and other things relating to operational development and military capabilities by air, sea and land.

“And by this I am not saying whether we did or did not do this or that.”

This latest incident comes nearly three weeks after an Israeli-owned ship the MV Helios Ray was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.

The cause was not immediately clear, although a US defence official said the blast left holes in both sides of the vessel's hull. Israel accused Iran of being behind the explosion, a charge Tehran denied.

The escalating tensions and the rise in frequent attacks between Israel and Iran come against the backdrop of the US and Iran looking to renegotiate or re-enter the nuclear accords, originally signed in 2015.