Israeli-Owned Ship Attacked Off UAE Coast

According to Israeli media reports, an Israeli-owned ship was attacked on Tuesday off the UAE port city of Fujairah. Some Israeli reports said the cargo ship Hyperion Ray was targeted with a missile and blamed the attack on Iran, although it’s not clear if Tehran was responsible.

While there’s no evidence that the Islamic Republic targeted the Hyperion Ray, Iran certainly has the motive to hit an Israeli ship. Over the weekend, Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was struck in an apparent Israeli attack likely meant to sabotage indirect talks between the US and Iran that are ongoing to revive the nuclear deal.

Iranian officials blamed Israel for the Natanz incident and vowed revenge, although that revenge could come in the form of increasing the activity of the Islamic Republic’s civilian nuclear program. Iran announced on Tuesday that it will begin enriching some uranium at 60 percent following the sabotage at Natanz.

Last week, an Iranian ship, known as the Saviz, came under attack in the Red Sea, which was attributed to Israel in media reports. The Saviz incident was the latest in a string of Israeli attacks on Iranian ships in the region and came on the same day that the indirect US-Iran talks began.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that since 2019, Israel had attacked at least a dozen ships in the region. Most of the targeted vessels were bound for Syria and were either Iranian or carrying Iranian oil.