Israel is urging the UN Security Council to condemn Iran for an explosion on an Israeli-owned ship last week, although no evidence has been presented to prove Iran was responsible.
Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield claiming the February 25th incident in the Gulf of Oman was an Iranian attack.
“The IRGC (Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) attached an explosive device to the vessel that caused severe damage forcing the ship to return to the port of Dubai to ensure the safety of the crew,” Erdan claimed in the letter.
The Israeli-owned cargo ship MV Helios Ray was not disabled by the blast and is already back at sea after briefly docking in Dubai, and no crew members were injured by the explosion.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also blamed Iran for the incident. When asked about possible retaliation, Netanyahu said Israel is “striking” at Iran throughout the region.
For their part, Iran strongly rejected Israel’s accusation. “We strongly reject this accusation… the security of the Persian Gulf is extremely important for Iran,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.