The New York Times reported that the US Navy provides protection to Israeli ships in the Gulf waters and adjacent areas, and both Iran and Israel have recently exchanged accusations of targeting commercial cargo ships and oil tankers in the Gulf and Indian Ocean regions.
The American newspaper said that the increase in attacks against Israeli ships on the high seas, specifically after the attacks of last March and April, prompted pieces of the US Navy to escort ships related to Israel as they sailed in the Gulf waters.
The newspaper quoted US and Israeli intelligence officials that the United States issued warnings about an Iranian intention to attack Israeli ships, and the same newspaper stated that the last warning of a possible Iranian attack was issued by the American intelligence services on the first of last June.
Previous attacks
And Israeli media reported the day before yesterday that an Israeli merchant ship was attacked last Saturday by an unknown source in the Indian Ocean, and the Israeli “Walla” news website, quoting an Israeli official, said that the ship was owned by an Israeli businessman, and the official Israeli channel “Kan” reported that a security assessment speaks Iran was behind the attack, which was an explosion that hit the ship.
Reuters quoted the Israeli "N12" channel that the Israeli cargo ship was on its way from the Saudi port of Jeddah to the UAE.
And last February, Israel accused Iran of targeting a ship owned by an Israeli businessman, MV Helios Ray, in the Indian Ocean, which led to an explosion, but Tehran denied responsibility for the attack.
On March 12, the American Wall Street Journal published an investigation that revealed that since 2019, Israel has targeted at least 12 ships bound for Syria, mostly transporting Iranian oil and weapons.