Middle – East: Maritime Conflict Spiral Under Great Tension
Fear of a maritime conflict is increasing in Arabian Sea. The 6th of April, Iran’s foreign ministry reported an attack on the Iranian freighter “Saviz” in the Red Sea.
The vessel was hit below the waterline around 06:00 local Time, near the coasts of Djibouti. Its origins and causes are still under investigation. Previously, the 25th of March, the Israeli-owned container ship “Lori” was struck by a missile attack off the Oman’s coast. According to Israeli media reports, no crew members were injured.
These incidents are part of a series of maritime events blamed on Israel or Iran.
In fact, mid-march, Tehran suspected Israel of being responsible for the attack on its ship “Iran Shar-e-Kord” in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship would be owned by a company blacklisted by Washington accusing it of transporting material linked to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Conversely, Tehran has been accused of being behind an “environmental attack” caused by the Iranian vessel “Emerald”. The vessel would deliberately pollute the Israeli coastline on February 1st and 2nd. In addition to that, Tehran would also be responsible for the mysterious explosion of the Israeli transport ship Helios Ray while sailing in the Arabian Sea on February 26.
The Wall Street Journal reported that since the end of 2019, Israel would have targeted a dozen ships smuggling of illicit goods and weapons trafficking to Syria.
This maritime conflict is definitely a dangerous game play by two regional protagonists with the risk of triggering a flash-over in the whole Middle – East.
