Iran's Shadow War

"All available evidence clearly points to Iran [being behind a drone attack on July 29 against an Israel-linked tanker that killed a former British soldier and Romanian national]."

"This was a deliberate and targeted attack, and a clear violation of international law … There is no justification for this attack."

"Vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law. [We will] do our utmost to protect all shipping, upon which the global economy depends. Iran’s behaviour, alongside its support to proxy forces and non-state armed actors, threatens international peace and security."

G7 Foreign Ministers

 

"The UK knows that Iran was responsible for this attack. We know it was deliberate and targeted. [The evidence is] clear cut."

"The door for diplomacy and dialogue remains open. But if Iran chooses not to take that route, then we would seek to hold Iran to account and apply a cost to that."

British Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward

 

"[The accusations are] baseless."

"For those who are familiar with the history of the region, the design of such conspiracies at different junctures by the Israeli regime is nothing new."

"[Iran would not hesitate in defending its national interests and would respond to any] possible adventurism." 

"[Allegations that Iran was responsible] were contradictory, false and provocative."

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman, Iranian Foreign Ministry

 

"[The attack may have been launched from the Iranian coast. The distance to the locations of the attacks] was within the range of documented Iranian one-way attack [drones]."

"Some of the material was transferred to US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Manama, Bahrain and subsequently to a US national laboratory for further testing and verification."

Central Command, which oversees US forces in the region

The Mercer Street was attacked off the coast of Oman, and two on board were killed   Johan Victor via Reuters

 

Intelligence agencies from the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel and the United States, all marked the Islamic State of Iran as the perpetrator of yet another attack on a vessel sailing in the norther Indian Ocean on July 30 off the coast of Oman. Two crew members of the ship named the Mercer Street managed by Zodiac Maritime based in the United Kingdom, owned by an Israeli shipping owner died in the attack. The Romanian captain of the ship and a British security guard lost their lives in the event. Those on board the ship reported having been targeted by two drones hours before the explosive drone hit the ship.

The attack appears to be yet another 'adventure' undertaken by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps which, with their armed speed boats, have taken to surrounding, harassing and attacking vessels in international waters claiming them to be in waters of Iranian jurisdiction. Following this most recent deadly attack, within days other foreign oil tankers reported they were both physically hijacked and digitally interfered with while sailing off the Gulf of Oman, in violation of international law.

This too is a hallmark operation of the Republic which has for years claimed ownership  of the Strait of Hormus, threatening to close it off to international shipping and navigation should an armed conflict break out. The waters off the United Arab Emirates have been roiled for the past two years by a series of explosions and hijackings. For which the U.S.Navy has blamed Iran, in limpet mine attacks damaging oil tankers. The Israel-owned ships Helios Ray and Hyperion Ray were similarly attacked.

Iran claims plausible deniability. The theocratic dictatorship that is known to be the major supporter of Islamist terrorism through its proxies Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthis, as well as Shi'ite militias, and also Hamas, supplying them with weaponry and deploying their militias when it suits their purpose of sowing terror in specific targets, is no innocent bystander as it claims to be. Its deliberate, planned acts of violence and maritime sabotage and criminal attacks reflect its agenda to throw opponents into disarray and advance Iran's plans to lead a Shi'ite conquest in a majority Sunni Arab Middle East.

Its signing of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union was nothing but a smokescreen for its urgent search for enriched uranium to bring its nuclear program closer to completion. Despite signing the JCPOA, it continued enriching uranium covertly while advancing the updated technology of its medium-range ballistic missiles, designed to carry a nuclear warhead. And carrying on a clandestine connection with North Korea.

The region is under threat of constant violent provocation by Iran, through missions delivered by its proxy terrorist groups and its greatest asset, its state terrorist group, the IRGC. While the United States reignited a new series of negotiations to renew the JCPOA, Iran has been emboldened to threaten dire consequences for those interfering in its affairs. Affairs that include destabilizing the Middle East, and threatening to demolish Israel, for which a nuclear warhead would be an invaluable tool, and setting the entire region on edge, venturing outward from the Middle East to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Brazil, Cuba.

As two oil-producing countries under U.S. sanctions, Iran and Venezuela have been working in recent years to strengthen geopolitical ties to relieve U.S. pressure and find a solution to improve their economies.