On Saturday, an Iranian fuel tanker was attacked off the coast of Syria, the first such attack in years. Three Iranians, including two crew members, were reported slain.
Details are still emerging, but suspicion immediately shot to Israel, who attacks Iranian targets in and around Syria all the time. A previous report had suggested that the Israelis had targeted a few vessels carrying Iranian fuel in the past.
This fuel tanker was close to port, and it is believed to have been attacked by a drone or a missile fired from Lebanese airspace. This again points to an Israeli attack, as Israel tends to use Lebanese airspace with impunity.
Before the war, Syria was self-sufficient on oil and fuel, but production and transport has struggled, and now they are heavily reliant on imports to run the economy. With the US trying to keep Syria from buying anything, and trying to keep Iran from selling anything, it’s only natural this would be a key trading partner for them.
The US has been trying to stop Iranian exports, seizing some of the tankers in the past. This is the first time one has come under attack, however, which is certainly more along the lines of what Israel would do.
Are they really so certain their “allies” will back them, … when they don’t even bother to false-flag their provocations? The gods don’t favor such hubris.
The Israelis clearly desire to provoke some retaliation, which might then undermine a return to the Iran Deal.
Revenge is best done cold anyway. Their time will come.
iran should ramp it up to 80% enrichment as israel don’t have the means to hit Iranian nuclear installations themselves and as america doesn’t have the appetite to hit Iran hard enough as iran can hit back harder against us interests and its proxies us might be forced to leash israel
The unintended consequence of the anti-Iran campaign seems to be that the Iranian gov’t is concluding having Nukes as a deterrent offers the best path for peace and security.
The Iranians can look around and see, those little countries with Nukes (Israel, North Korea, India, Pakistan, France, England, etc) don’t get destroyed. The doctrine of MAD seems to work.
Really?-Jericho missles, ship born missles.
buddy iran has underground facilities that israel simply can’t penetrate. u hit their above ground sites they go below ground and escalate then what?
You are right. But it shouldn’t undermine the Iran deal since given the same situation the US would be retaliating with full force. But since it’s Israel and NOTHING they do can keep our “ironclad” and “unwavering” loyalty from being anything less than ironclad and unwavering. Is this month’s check in the mail yet??
Israel is a quick and easy suspect, yes. US corporate MIC also has means and motive. Couple mercs with the right tools.
Are they really so certain their “allies” will back them, … when they don’t even bother to false-flag their provocations? The gods don’t favor such hubris.
why not? us political elite are under the thrall of israel
Israeli dual citizens in significant number occupy the US government.
No questions the AIPAC whores and Neocon ideologues are all in. “The Street” is the question. Not unlikely Iran would be big league stuff, …and the bloom has gone off Zionism in Western public opinion.
Remember the Liberty! 🇺🇸
Fake news on the number of casualties both from Aniwar.com and MEE…!
Why do you think so?
No other media reporting it and MEE source is questionable…!
“No other media reporting it”
Well, except for Reuters, Fox, French state media, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Russian state media, Syrian state media, Iranian state media (which is sending mixed messages as to whether it was an accident or attack), and numerous other media.
But yeah, other than the 50-100 media sources reporting it, no other media are reporting it.
Have You Read my Original Comment…?!
Yes.
Have you?
This was widely reported in the West as a drone attack coming from Lebanese air space that killed three crewmembers. The Guardian even cited their favorite Syrian casualty source.
However, now Iran’s news agency PressTV is quoting the Syrian news agency Noor, saying it was a welding accident that injured three crew, one dead and the other two in intensive care. https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/24/650224/Syria-tanker-fire-military-official-rejects-military-attack
It is confusing now. Who had motive to brag about an attack, and who has motive now to downplay it?
“It is confusing now. Who had motive to brag about an attack, and who has motive now to downplay it?”
It is actually very simple, Israel brags because they cannot go too long being embarrassed and not retaliate for the missile that landed near Dimona… Iran brushes off because they don’t want to give Israel that Brag Chance…!
What would be their motive in fabricating the incident?
Mossad, IOF and IAF lie about accidents to maintain or enhance their reputations claiming them as great victories. Americans like winners, so what would happen if they ended up losers?
Iran might lie to reduce the pressure to retaliate. Retaliating now against Israel would make it harder for Iran to achieve its objectives in Syria which is to secure the survival of the Syrian government. After all “war is merely the continuation of politics with other means. Achieving your political goals is far more important than blowing up a few pieces of hardware. Think back to the Su-24 shoot down by Turkey. Russia’s revenge will come when the Syrian government is secure and Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman dreams are dust.