Iranian Container Ship Damaged in Attack in Mediterranean

A report from The Wall Street Journal said Israel has attacked at least 12 ships since 2019

On Friday, an Iranian shipping company said one of its vessels was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean on Wednesday. The container ship Shahr e Kord was slightly damaged by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was injured.

“Such terrorist acts amount to naval piracy, and are contrary to international law on commercial shipping security, and legal action will be taken to identify the perpetrators through relevant international institutions,” Ali Ghiasian, a spokesman for state-run shipping company IRISL, said.

The news comes after a report from The Wall Street Journal said Israel had attacked at least 12 ships that were bound for Syria since 2019 using mines and other weapons. The report said the targets were mostly ships carrying Iranian oil.

A source told the Journal that one incident occurred last month when Israeli operatives planted a limpet mine on a ship anchored off Lebanon that was carrying Iranian oil. Limpet mines are a magnetic bomb that is attached to the hull of the target vessel.

According to Reuters, Israeli officials did not comment when asked if Israel was responsible for the Shahr e Kord incident. A maritime source told Reuters that three other Iranian ships had been damaged in recent weeks by unknown causes in the Red Sea.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.