DUBAI (Reuters) – A commercial vessel owned by an Israeli company was attacked off the coast of the UAE in Gulf waters, pro-Iran media and an Israeli television channel reported on Tuesday.
Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 cited unnamed Israeli officials as the culprits of Iran’s enemy enemy for the assault, which it described as a missile attack. There were no casualties and the ship continued its course, the TV channel added.
Two maritime security sources told Reuters that an Israeli ship was hit near the UAE port of Fujairah, causing an explosion, but no casualties.
Officials in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Ministry declined to comment on the incident. A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Transport said he was aware of the reports, but could not confirm them.
There was no immediate confirmation from the UAE.
The incident comes a day after Tehran accused Israel of sabotaging a nuclear site and after Iran and the United States began indirect talks in Vienna on ways to reactivate the world powers ’2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
Lebanon-based television channel Al Mayadeen, citing sources, identified the ship as Hyperion.
Refinitiv vessel tracking data showed that the Bahamas-flagged vehicle carrier, HYPERION RAY, was heading to the port of Fujairah from Kuwait.
The Lebanon-based news agency Unews also said the ship was carrying cars and had been in the port of Kuwait’s Al Ahmadi Mine 48 hours earlier.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a consultative notice that they were aware of a possible incident near Fujairah and were being investigated.
Last month an Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, two weeks after an Israeli-owned ship MV HELIOS RAY, owned by the same company as Hyperion Ray according to a United Nations shipping database , was attacked by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.
Incidents have occurred since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January with a pledge to rejoin the 2015 nuclear pact – abandoned by his predecessor Donald Trump in a welcome move. for Israel – if Tehran fully fulfills the agreement again.
Iran said Tuesday it would begin enriching uranium to 60% purity, an action that would bring fissile material closer to 90% suitable for a nuclear weapon.
Reports by Ghaida Ghantous and Lisa Barrington in Dubai, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Jonathan Saul in London; Edited by Alison Williams, William Maclean