Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of being behind the explosion that targeted an Israeli ship in the Sea of Oman, and threatened to respond to the attack.
"It is clear that this is an Iranian act," Netanyahu said - in an interview with Israeli state radio on Monday morning.
He added that Iran is the biggest enemy of Israel, and that the latter is hitting it on all fronts, as he put it.
Netanyahu also said that Israel will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons and capabilities, either with or without an agreement, indicating that he informed US President Joe Biden of this position in a phone call that took place between them less than two weeks ago.
The explosion took place last Friday in the ship "MV Helios Ray", on its way to Singapore.
As a result, she sustained some damage, and on Sunday, she arrived at Port Rashid in Dubai, UAE, to conduct maintenance work.
The ship - which is owned by an Israeli businessman - is the first Israeli ship to be reported being attacked in the region, and similar attacks have previously targeted oil tankers and cargo ships.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that his "initial assessment" is that Iran is responsible for the explosion that targeted the cargo ship "MV Helios Re", which targeted after it unloaded cargo at some ports in the region.
The ship "MV Helios Re" shortly after arriving in Dubai (European)
Damage to the ship
The explosion comes amid severe tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran, against the backdrop of the possibility of Washington returning to the Iranian nuclear agreement, and the Israeli raids on armed groups described as being backed by Iran in Syria.
It also comes in light of speculation that arose after the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in late November, near Tehran, and Iran accused Israel of being behind his assassination.
Earlier, a US defense official said that the explosion had caused holes to occur in the sides of the hull.
For its part, Israeli Radio Kan quoted Rami Unger, the owner of the ship, that "the damages are two holes, each about 1.5 meters in diameter, and it is not clear to us until now whether this was due to rocket fire or mines attached to the hull of the ship."
No crew member of the Bahamas-flagged ship was injured in the blast.
Washington accused Iran of launching a number of attacks on ships in the strategic Gulf waters, including attacks on 4 ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, in May 2019. Iran denied these attacks.