Israel has employed various forms of weaponry – including mines – to impede the shipment of Iranian oil to Syria and has targeted at least a dozen ships, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The report stated these attacks in the Red Sea have been occurring since 2019 and have not been previously disclosed. The paper cited unnamed officials.
“Israel stepped up the game beyond sanctions to sabotage,” Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the paper. “The Red Sea sabotage is keeping with a broader economic-warfare campaign.”
The report said Israel acted because it feared the profits from the shipments would fund extremism. The report went on to say that Israel appears to be willing to act alone on Iran, which it continues to see as an existential threat in the region. No ships have sunk, and there have been no reported fatalities. The Journal’s report included photographs of ships with damage from purported missile strikes.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz has blamed Iran for targeting an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman, and he declared Israel would take action “almost weekly” in attempt to stop Iranian involvement in Syria.
Gantz also said in an interview earlier this month that his country stands ready to act alone if Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear program and is updating its plans to strike Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
The remarks come as President Biden’s team is considering rejoining the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal that former President Trump abandoned and criticized as a gift for Tehran.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Tel Aviv has carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes aimed at various targets in Syria over the past five years.
Bombs Away
This past Friday, Iran reported one of its cargo ships en route to Europe was hit by a “terrorist attack.”
Ali Ghiasian, speaking for the shipping group, said,
“Such terrorist acts amount to naval piracy and are contrary to international law on commercial shipping security, and legal actions will be taken to identify the perpetrators through relevant international institutions.”
TREND FORECAST: Despite Israel’s actions toward Iran, considering the U.S. had signed on with other nations to join the Iranian nuclear deal back in 2015 when Joseph Biden was VP, now that he is president, we forecast he will rejoin the nuclear deal.
Deal or no deal, the Middle East wild card remains Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued military threats against the Persian nation. Now, with Netanyahu again fighting for his “political life,” will military tensions with Iran escalate before the 23 March elections?
The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu said he was certain a conclusive result would be reached and the fifth election in just over two years would not be initiated.
TREND FORECAST: As Gerald Celente has long noted and history shows, “When all else fails, they take you to war.” We had forecast tensions would build in the Middle East, with Iran being a main target of Israel.
We have also reported that since November 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu has been under the pressure of a criminal indictment on three separate corruption cases: bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Unable to form a ruling coalition, Netanyahu had wanted members to agree that as PM, he was above the law and could not be brought up on charges.
This past summer, thousands of Israelis took to the streets, primarily in Jerusalem near Netanyahu’s residence, demanding he step down.
Regardless of who wins the election, tensions with Iran will continue to escalate, and there will be no substantive peace measures taken with the Palestinians. The Israeli “settlement” trend of annexing Palestinian land will continue.
