U.S. forces have redirected 12 vessels, disabled two, and boarded two to enforce the Iran blockade, most recently completing a verification boarding and disabling another ship attempting to breach it.

The U.S. naval blockade against Iran remains in full effect. As of July 25, CENTCOM has redirected 12 commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled 2 that didn't comply, and boarded 2 to ensure total compliance.

Earlier today, U.S. forces completed a verification… pic.twitter.com/eyp1N2B9sO

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 25, 2026

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U.S. aircraft struck the engine room of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after the vessel allegedly violated the Iran blockade and ignored repeated warnings. The action marked the second tanker disabled in as many days as CENTCOM intensifies efforts to cut off Iranian oil exports.

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The neutralization of the tanker sends a clear signal that the U.S. will not tolerate any interference with its regional objectives.

By Eliana Fleming, JFeed

The United States military has taken decisive action in the Gulf of Oman, neutralizing a vessel that attempted to breach the international maritime blockade.

On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command confirmed that its forces engaged an empty oil tanker flying the Iranian flag as it moved through restricted waters.

The operation was part of the broader effort to enforce the “Mighty Fury” campaign, ensuring that sanctioned Iranian assets are unable to facilitate the regime’s war effort or circumvent economic restrictions.

This naval engagement occurred against the backdrop of Project Freedom, an initiative designed to provide safe passage for neutral commercial ships while simultaneously strangling Iran’s ability to export energy.

According to the Pentagon, American guided-missile destroyers are now actively patrolling the Arabian Gulf and the surrounding waters, responding with force to any unauthorized movement.

The neutralized tanker represents the latest in a series of skirmishes between the U.S. Navy and Iranian-affiliated vessels.

President Donald Trump addressed the situation, asserting that the Iranians are growing desperate as the blockade takes its toll.

He noted that while Tehran publicly talks tough, they are privately signaling a desire to negotiate an end to the war.

“Iran wants to make a deal, they want to negotiate,” Trump declared, while maintaining that his administration will not allow the regime to possess nuclear weapons under any circumstances.

The President’s “Project Freedom” continues to serve as a carrot-and-stick approach to the crisis.

The U.S. Central Command stated on social media that American forces are actively assisting efforts to restore freedom of navigation for commercial shipping while maintaining a tight grip on Iranian military logistics.

The neutralization of the tanker sends a clear signal that the U.S. will not tolerate any interference with its regional objectives.

As thousands of American troops remain on high alert in the region, the maritime standoff continues to be the primary engine of economic and military pressure on the Ayatollah’s regime.

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The Trump administration is mulling a plan to pressure Tehran to make concessions on its uranium enrichment and ballistic missile program in lieu of a major air campaign.

By World Israel News Staff

The White House is considering massively expanding the seizure of tankers carrying Iranian oil as an alternative to a new air campaign against Tehran, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

According to the report, which cited multiple US officials, the administration is mulling the expanded use of tanker seizures as a way of ratcheting up pressure on Tehran, without the use of airstrikes, which would likely elicit a major response from the regime.

The US has periodically used naval forces to interdict ships to and from Iran, including vessels carrying Iranian oil.

Such a move would further restrict Iran’s primary source of foreign currency, as the Iranian economy continues to collapse.

The rial sank to a record low in late January, with a single US dollar worth more than 1.5 million rials.

While an aggressive naval blockade of Iran would ratchet up pressure without initiating a regional war, such a move could draw Iranian retaliation, with Tehran either responding with its own seizures of tankers linked to American allies, or by mining the Strait of Hormuz, shutting down the export of oil through the Persian Gulf and likely raising global petroleum prices by 25%.

The US has sanctioned more than 20 Iranian-linked vessels this year and recently added 14 more ships and several shipping companies to its sanctions list. Since the partial blockade went into effect two months ago, several ships carrying Iran oil have been seized.

However, boarding all vessels carrying Iranian oil would require significant military and logistical resources.

The US has increased its naval assets in the Persian Gulf, though it is unclear whether the force currently active in the Gulf would be sufficient to enforce a tightened blockade while also responding to potential Iranian retaliation.

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Medium-range ballistic missile components, anti-tank guided missiles, and other war-grade weaponry was found on the boat, Britain said.

By World Israel News Staff

The British Navy said it intercepted Iranian smugglers who were attempting to transport anti-tank missiles, ballistic missile components, and other weapons through the Gulf of Oman last month, Reuters reported.

According to the Reuters report, UK forces – including a helicopter – worked in collaboration with an unmanned U.S. intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance plane to track Iranian smugglers who were speeding through the Gulf under the cover of darkness.

The smugglers’ vessel tried to enter Iranian territorial waters when spotted by British naval forces. Eventually, the boat was boarded by Royal Marines, who discovered the weapons onboard.

“This seizure by HMS Lancaster and the permanent presence of the Royal Navy in the Gulf region supports our commitment to upholding international law and tackle activity that threatens peace and security around the world,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in a statement.

Medium-range ballistic missile components, anti-tank guided missiles, and other war-grade weaponry was found on the boat, Britain said. There was no indication as to which country the vessel had intended to reach.

This latest smuggling bust comes after two similar incidents in 2022, in which the Navy stopped Iranian weapons transports through the Gulf.

In July 2022, a British warship acting under the guidance of U.S. intelligence stopped an Iranian smuggler’s boat which officials said contained “dozens of packages containing advanced weaponry.”

The U.S. Navy noted in a media statement that the “weapons were seized along routes historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully to Yemen,” suggesting that they were bound for the Houthi rebel group in the southern Yemeni peninsula.

The Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran, have long been engaged in an armed conflict with Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

President Joe Biden removed the Houthi rebels from a list of terror groups recognized by the U.S. government, which irked the Gulf kingdoms.

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An Israeli official said that it appeared Iran carried out the attack with a Shahed-136 exploding drone. 

By The Associated Press

An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The attack on the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon happened Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, one Mideast-based defense official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they did not have authorization to discuss the attack publicly.

The Pacific Zircon is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been “hit by a projectile” some 150 miles (240 kilometers) off the coast of Oman.

“We are in communication with the vessel and there is no reports of injuries or pollution. All crew are safe and accounted for,” the company said. “There is some minor damage to the vessel’s hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress.”

An Israeli official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss unpublicized details of the attack, said that it appeared Iran carried out the attack with a Shahed-136 exploding drone. Iran has supplied those drones to Russia, which has been using them to target infrastructure and civilian targets in Ukraine.

“It is an Iranian attack, there is a consensus on this in the Israeli intelligence and defense community,” the official said.

Iran’s government did not acknowledge the attack on the Pacific Zircon. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oil prices rose slightly as news of the attack spread, with benchmark Brent crude trading above $94 a barrel.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on Iran. Tehran and Israel have been engaged in a yearslong shadow war in the wider Middle East, with some drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels traveling around the region.

The United States also blamed Iran for a series of attacks occurring off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in 2019. Tehran at the time had begun escalating its nuclear program following the unilateral U.S. withdraw from Iran’s atomic deal with world powers.

In 2021, a suspected Iranian drone strike hit the Israeli-associated oil tanker Mercer Street off Oman, killing two people onboard.

It wasn’t immediately clear where the vessel was Wednesday. Satellite-tracking data from late Tuesday provided by MarineTraffic.com put the vessel deep in the Arabian Sea after leaving the Omani port of Sohar.

Since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal, nonproliferation experts warn the Islamic Republic now has enough enriched uranium to make at least one nuclear weapon if it chose, though Tehran insists its program is peaceful.

Iran also has been lashing out at its perceived enemies abroad amid monthslong nationwide protests now challenging its theocracy.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said the attack “does not come as a surprise.”

“The risk of attacks against shipping and energy infrastructure in the wider region is rising mainly due to the lack of progress in U.S.-Iranian nuclear diplomacy and the decision by the Washington to apply further sanctions pressure on Iran,” he said. “Since 2019, Iran has consistently responded to new U.S. sanctions with covert military action in the region.”

“There is not just an increasing risk of disruptive attacks against energy infrastructure in the region, but also a growing risk of a wider military confrontation with more serious consequences for world energy markets,” he added.

The oil tanker attack also comes comes just days ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. While Doha maintains good relations with Tehran, with whom it shares a massive natural offshore natural gas field, Israelis will be attending the tournament. Iran’s national team also will face Britain and the U.S. in first-round matches, two countries it accuses of fomenting the unrest in Iran.

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Iran celebrated its capture of the vessel in dramatic footage aired on state television, the day before the 42nd anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

By Associated Press

Iran seized a Vietnamese-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman last month and still holds the vessel, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press, revealing the latest provocation in Mideast waters as tensions escalate between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard troops on Oct. 24 took control of the MV Southys, a vessel that analysts suspect of trying to transfer sanctioned Iranian crude oil to Asia, at gunpoint. U.S. forces had monitored the seizure, but ultimately didn’t take action as the vessel sailed into Iranian waters.

Iran celebrated its capture of the vessel in dramatic footage aired on state television, the day before the 42nd anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Officials at the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ship-tracking data analyzed by the AP from MarineTraffic.com showed the vessel still off Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas on Tuesday. A satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. also showed the vessel off Bandar Abbas in recent days.

The two U.S. officials on Wednesday spoke on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be made public amid ongoing attempts to restart talks over Iran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations have stalled in Vienna since the election of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in June, allowing Iran to press ahead with its nuclear program and raising alarm in Western capitals.

The European Union, Iran and the U.S. all said late Wednesday that the indirect talks between Tehran and Washington would resume Nov. 29 in Vienna.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, said in a tweet that talks aimed for the removal “unlawful and inhumane” sanctions. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Iran continued to take “provocative nuclear steps” and that “this window of opportunity will not be open forever.”

The officials spoke to AP after Iranian state TV offered a series of contradictory reports about a confrontation between the Guard and the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet. State TV sought to cast the incident as an act of American aggression against Iran in the Gulf of Oman, with the U.S. Navy detaining a tanker carrying Iranian oil and the Guard freeing it and bringing it back to the Islamic Republic.

Asked about Iran’s assertion of U.S. aggression, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said it was false and that it was Iran that had seized what he described as a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman on Oct. 24.

“It’s a bogus claim,” Kirby said of the Iranian assertion. “The only seizing that was done was by Iran.” He declined to cite the nationality of the vessel that was seized, saying it was up to that country to discuss it.

Kirby said Iran’s boarding and seizing of the vessel “constituted a blatant violation of international law that undermines freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce.”

Tehran also did not provide the ship’s name, or other details, nor any explanation of why the Navy might target it. Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iranian officials heralded the ship’s impoundment as a heroic act, with Raisi lauding the Revolutionary Guard on Twitter. The country’s oil minister, Javad Owji, thanked the Guard for “rescuing the Iranian oil tanker from American pirates.”

State TV released footage showing an Iranian surveillance drone monitoring a hulking red tanker in the Gulf of Oman. Heavily armed Iranian commandos then rappelled onto the boat from a helicopter as small speedboats surrounded the vessel and an Iranian catamaran ship patrolled the waters.

The video appeared to show Iranian Guard troops pointing uncovered deck-mounted machine guns at the USS The Sullivans, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. Photos released by the U.S. military show The Sullivans recently in the Arabian Sea near the Gulf of Oman.

The status and makeup of the Sothys’ crew wasn’t immediately known. A shipping database showed the vessel’s last registered owner as OPEC Petrol Transportation Co., a firm with a Hanoi address. On Thursday, a worker at the office acknowledged an incident involving the Southys but referred questions to another employee who wasn’t there. That employee did not immediately return a request for comment.

However, the Southys had been on the radar of United Against a Nuclear Iran, a New York-based advocacy group long suspicious of the Islamic Republic. In a letter dated Oct. 11 addressed to the Vietnam Maritime Administration, the group said its analysis of satellite photos showed the Southy received a ship-to-ship transfer of oil in June from an oil tanker called the Oman Pride.

The U.S. Treasury identified the Oman Pride in August as being used to transport Iranian oil as part of a smuggling scheme to enrich the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force. That Iranian oil ends up being sold into East Asia, the Treasury alleged, without identifying a specific country.

Iran’s seizure of the Southys would be the latest in a string of hijackings and explosions to roil the Gulf of Oman, which sits near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers in 2019, as well as for a fatal drone attack on an Israeli-linked oil tanker that killed two European crew members earlier this year. Just a few months ago, Iranian hijackers stormed and briefly captured a Panama-flagged asphalt tanker off the United Arab Emirates.

Tehran denies carrying out the attacks, but a wider shadow war between Iran and the West has played out in the region’s volatile waters since then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed crushing sanctions on the country.

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The growing closeness between the top three Western adversaries comes at a point when American strength in the region seems to be waning.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Iran, Russia and China will hold a second set of joint maritime drills in the coming months in the Persian Gulf, the Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported Monday.

Russian ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan told the agency that the purpose of the drills will be to “practice actions to ensure the safety of international shipping and the fight against sea pirates.”

Dzhagaryan added that he expects the three-way exercise to become an annual event.

The growing closeness between the top three Western adversaries comes at a point when American strength in the region seems to be waning. The most recent signals to that effect are the American intelligence failure to predict the Taliban’s lightning sweep to take over Afghanistan this month, combined with the ongoing chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country.

Last week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told both his Chinese and Russian counterparts that his country was ready to work together with them in “establishing security and peace in Afghanistan.”

This will be the second time these navies practice together in the area. In December 2019 they conducted a four-day military exercise in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman. Then, too, among the objectives announced by an Iranian rear admiral was “improving the security of international maritime trade [and] countering maritime piracy and terrorism.”

This was followed by land troops from Iran and China joining a large, multi-national military exercise held in Russia last September that focused on battlefield tactics, control and command.

Iran then held a separate, three-day “Maritime Security Belt 2021” drill with Russia this past February in the Indian Ocean, with the participation of the Indian navy.

The Gulf of Oman is the only entrance into the Persian Gulf, connecting to it through the Strait of Hormuz. It is the primary route for oil and liquid natural gas shipments from the Arab oil-producing countries to the rest of the world, and the security of its waters is of prime international concern.

The Iranian coastline runs along the northern edge of both gulfs and the mullahcracy considers the strategic waterway its backyard and a target for dominance. Its naval vessels have intermittently played dangerous games with American warships in the Persian Gulf. The Islamic Republic has also been blamed for several recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, including one last month on an Israeli-linked vessel in which a UAV strike left two sailors, one Romanian and one British, dead.

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The incident follows two attacks attributed to Iran in the Gulf of Oman over the past two weeks.

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

An explosion on an Iranian oil tanker was caught on camera on Tuesday, in what some believe to be an Israeli retaliation for recent attacks carried out by Iran in the Gulf of Oman on maritime vessels affiliated with Israel.

The incident, which took place at the port of Latakia in Syria, was reported by the Syrian state news agency SANA. According to the report, a fire broke out on the empty ship while it was undergoing maintenance at the port.

Two crew members were injured after inhaling smoke caused by the fire, SANA reported.

Explosion onboard Panama flagged MT WISDOM in Latakia Port Syria. The tanker is alleged to be involved in transferring oil from Iranian tankers to Syria. Few of the ship’s crew reported to be killed.
Seems like retaliatory attack after MT MERCER STREET was hit. pic.twitter.com/IpUrTKP4PL

— Maritime Security News (@marsec_osn) August 10, 2021

The incident follows two attacks attributed to Iran in the Gulf of Oman over the past two weeks. The first, carried out on July 30, saw two crew members die after a suicide drone targeted the Mercer Street, a ship managed by a company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.

The second incident was reported by the British Navy on August 3 as a potential hijack of a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman. However, Iran’s alleged ploy to hijack the vessel with a squad of five to six heavily armed Iranian commandos was eventually foiled by crew members who managed to report the attempted hijacking and alert the authorities in time.

In light of the heightened tensions between Iran and Israel in the region, some commentators have speculated that Tuesday’s explosion on the Iranian vessel was in fact a deliberate and covert operation carried out by Israel.

Similar attacks on Iranian vessels have been reported in the past few months and seem to be part of Israel’s ongoing campaign of disrupting Iran’s attempts of arming its proxies in Syria and Lebanon.

In March, Israeli media reported dozens of attacks carried out against Iranian ships throughout the Middle East, all of which were reportedly making their way to Syria.

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The G7 “condemns the unlawful attack committed on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman last month … All available evidence clearly points to Iran. There is no justification for this attack.” 

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

The Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the US and the High Representative of the European Union, known as the G7, stated that they “stand united” in their “commitment to maritime security and the protection of commercial shipping,” in wake of Iran’s recent attacks on ships in the Middle East.

The G7 “condemns the unlawful attack committed on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman last month, which killed a British and a Romanian national, [and was] a deliberate and targeted attack, and a clear violation of international law.”

“All available evidence clearly points to Iran. There is no justification for this attack,” they charged.

“Vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law. We will continue to do our utmost to protect all shipping, upon which the global economy depends, so that it is able to operate freely and without being threatened by irresponsible and violent acts,” the group stated.

“Iran’s behaviour, alongside its support to proxy forces and non-state armed actors, threatens international peace and security. We call on Iran to stop all activities inconsistent with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and call on all parties to play a constructive role in fostering regional stability and peace,” the statement concluded.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the G7 “important statement” and accused Iran of being “behind the attack on Mercer Street, just as it’s been behind multiple terror attacks across the world.”

“Iran isn’t just an Israeli problem, it’s a global problem. It’s time for the world to hold the Iranian regime to account,” he said.

Israel’s Ambassador to the US and the United Nations Gilad Erdan stated Friday that the statement issued by the G7 countries “shows that the world doesn’t believe the Iranian regime’s lies and recognizes that Iran threatens global peace and security.”

“Iran’s terrorist proxies cause instability and destruction throughout the region. The Security Council must hold Iran accountable, condemn its activities, and use all means at its disposal to stop Iran’s malign activities,” he demanded.

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Britain to raise tanker attack at Security Council meeting on Friday, but the body is not expected to take action.

By The Algemeiner

Britain will raise a deadly tanker attack off the coast of Oman during a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, diplomats said, but the 15-member body is not expected to take any action.

Britain told the Security Council on Tuesday it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the tanker attack last week, which killed two crew members — a Briton and a Romanian.

“There’s a lot of conflicting information. A ‘highly likely’ analysis, which we totally reject. We need to establish facts … we don’t need to rush to any conclusions or actions without having proof of what has happened,” deputy Russian UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters on Wednesday.

Tehran has denied any involvement in Thursday’s attack on the Mercer Street — a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack.

“We will do the necessary to ensure that there is accountability on this and that Iran is identified and dealt with at the Security Council,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told MSNBC on Thursday.

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Saeed Ara Jani, head of Iran’s IRCG UAV Command, is the person responsible for last week’s attack that left two crew members dead.

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid held on Wednesday a security briefing with ambassadors from UNSC member-states and exposed the identity of the person behind the attack of the Israeli-managed oil tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman.

Saeed Ara Jani, head of Iran’s IRCG UAV Command, is the person responsible for last week’s attack that left two crew members dead, both of whom were non-Israeli citizens.

“The direct culprit responsible for launching explosive drones is Saeed Ara Jani, whose name I’m revealing here today for the first time,” Gantz told the ambassadors.

“Ara Jani is the primary operator of the UAV array of IRCG’s air force, which targeted the Mercer Street. He is the one who provides the equipment, training, the operative plans and is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in the region,” Gantz added.

Gantz and Lapid made it clear during the briefing that Israel would maintain freedom to act when faced with any attack that threatens its sovereignty or the safety of its citizens.

Moreover, the Israeli officials emphasized that this attack was not a regional attack and was not directed toward Israel per se, but was rather an attack on the West, “and the world needs to respond,” they stressed.

“This will only be possible if the international community adopts a unified and brave policy – through the UNSC and other institutions – that will demand that Iran take responsibility for its aggressive actions,” a joint statement released by Gantz and Lapid read.

Wednesday’s briefing marks a shift in policy carried out by Israel since the attack, aimed at convincing the international community to set clear boundaries for Iran and prevent another incident.

“Iran has proven again that it poses an international and regional threat … Iran is responsible for dozens of terrorist actions throughout the Middle East, while operating militias in Yemen, Iraq and other countries,” Gantz told ambassadors, adding that “Iran has also crossed all of the red lines defined in the previous nuclear deal” and noting that it is getting closer to developing a nuclear bomb.

“That’s why it’s time to take action – the world must impose economic sanctions on Iran and to initiate operative plans against the regime. We have no quarrel with the Iranian people,” Gantz stressed, “but with the regime that is creating a dangerous arms race in the Middle East.”

Lapid posed the question of international law to the group of ambassadors, asking them: “Does the international law still exist? Does the world have the capability to enforce it? If the answer is yes, the entire world should be taking action. If it doesn’t, then the international community doesn’t really exist and it’s every state for itself.”

The U.S., UK and Israel have all blamed Iran for the drone attack. Israel hopes that this would lead other countries to strengthen their rhetoric directed at Tehran.

On Tuesday evening, the British Navy warned of a “potential hijack” of a ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, without elaborating. Other oil tankers in the area reported loss of control of steering shortly before the incident, raising fear of a large-scale attack. The incident ended on Wednesday, when the hijackers of the ship left the targeted vessel. No further information has been provided about the incident as of Wednesday afternoon.

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“It is Israel’s biggest enemy and we are beating it in the whole region,” Netanyahu said.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

“It was indeed an Iranian action, that’s clear,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet on Monday, weighing in on the mystery attack on an Israeli cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman on Feb. 25.

“It is Israel’s biggest enemy and we are beating it in the whole region. The Iranians will not have nuclear weapons – with or without an agreement. I also said this to my friend Biden,” Netanyahu said.

Iran continues to deny responsibility for the attack on the Israeli shipping vessel, MV Helios Ray, which was leaving the Persian Gulf on its way to Singapore when it was hit by a missile or struck a mine.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, “Netanyahu’s accusations are inaccurate. The security of the Persian Gulf is important to Tehran.”

Israel was quick to point the finger at Iran even before the prime minister’s comments. Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Saturday that Iran is most likely responsible for the attack. “The location of the ship in relatively close proximity to Iran raises the notion, the assessment, that we’re talking about the Iranians,” he said.

Israeli defense officials reportedly support a response to the attack. It’s not known if Sunday night’s reported missile strike south of Damascus was part of a reprisal. Israel hasn’t commented on the attack, which was reported by Syria’s official news agency SANA.

However, when Iran was blamed for attempting to hack Israel’s water supply in April 2020, the response hit closer to home with Israel assumed to be behind a May 9, 2020 hack of the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, which caused days of transport chaos.

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The missile struck the Konarak, a Hendijan-class support ship, taking part in the exercise.

By Associated Press

An Iranian missile fired during a training exercise in the Gulf of Oman struck a support vessel near its target, killing at least 19 sailors and wounding 15 others, Iranian media reported Monday, amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

The friendly fire incident happened on Sunday near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran, in the Gulf of Oman, state TV said.

The missile struck the Konarak, a Hendijan-class support ship, taking part in the exercise.

State television described the missile strike as an accident, saying the Konarak had remained too close to the target. The Konarak had been putting targets out in the water for other ships to fire upon, it said.

A local hospital admitted 12 sailors and treated another three with slight wounds, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian media said the Konarak had been overhauled in 2018 and was able to launch sea and anti-ship missiles. The Dutch-made, 47-meter (155-foot) vessel was in service since 1988 and had capacity of 40 tons. It usually carries a crew of 20 sailors.

Iran regularly holds exercises in the region, which is closed to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of the world’s oil passes. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which monitors the region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iranian media rarely report on mishaps during its exercises, signaling the severity of the incident. This incident also comes amid months of heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and imposed crushing sanctions on the country.

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Two oil tankers came under attack near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, reports say.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

Two oil tankers came under attack near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. The incident happened as the tankers emerged from the Persian Gulf, initial reports from Lebanese media said. It was also reported that the vessels sent distress signals to the ports of Pakistan and Oman as loud explosions were heard in the area.

According to the Associated Press, the assault left one ship ablaze and adrift as sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the U.S. Navy rushed to assist.

One of the tankers carried oil bound for Japan, whose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was wrapping up a high-stakes visit in Tehran that sought to ease tensions between Iran and the United States.

Benchmark Brent crude spiked at one point by as much 4% in trading following the reported attack, to over $62 a barrel, highlighting how crucial the area remains to global energy supplies. A third of all oil traded by sea passes through the strait, which is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The latest incident comes after the U.S. alleged that Iran used mines to attack four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah last month. Iran has denied being involved, but it comes as Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen also have launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said the U.S. Navy was assisting the two vessels that he described as being hit in a “reported attack.” He did not say how the ships were attacked or who was suspected of being behind the assault.

Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, identified one of the vessels involved as the MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker. The vessel was “on fire and adrift,” Dryad added. It did not offer a cause for the incident or mention the second ship.

The firm that operates the Front Altair told the Associated Press that an explosion was the cause of the fire onboard. International Tanker Management declined to comment further, saying they are still investigating what caused the explosion. Its crew of 23 is safe after being evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel, it said.

The second vessel was identified as the Kokuka Courageous. BSM Ship Management said it sustained hull damage and 21 sailors had been evacuated, with one suffering minor injuries.

The timing of Thursday’s reported attack was especially sensitive as Abe’s high-stakes diplomacy mission was underway in Iran. On Wednesday, after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Abe warned that any “accidental conflict” that could be sparked amid the heightened U.S.-Iran tensions must be avoided.

His message came just hours after Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi airport, striking its arrivals hall before dawn and wounding 26 people Wednesday.

Abe met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday, the second and final day of his visit. There were no immediate details about what they discussed.

Tensions have escalated in the Mideast as Iran appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that the Trump administration pulled out of last year.

Iran’s nuclear deal, reached in 2015 by China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the U.S., saw Tehran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. Western powers feared Iran’s atomic program could allow it to build nuclear weapons, although Iran long has insisted its program was for peaceful purposes.

In withdrawing from the deal last year, Trump pointed to the accord not limiting Iran’s ballistic missile program and not addressing what American officials describe as Tehran’s malign influence across the wider Middle East. Those who struck the deal at the time described it as a building block toward further negotiations with Iran, whose Islamic government has had a tense relationship with America since the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and subsequent hostage crisis.

Already, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless.

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