The Israeli defense minister accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of using civilian ships in the Gulf as a platform for launching missiles and drones, among others. The minister said that the Revolutionary Guards were trying to spread Iran’s influence throughout the region and beyond.
On Monday, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said during the Herzliya Conference security forum that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were turning commercial ships into platforms to launch missiles, drones, and commandos. Gallant said that the IRGC was looking to spread its clandestine influence in the waters even beyond the Gulf.
Gallant showed photos of six allegedly repurposed Iranian ships, referring to them as “floating terror bases,” with one ship, particularly, having transited through the Gulf of Aden.
“This follows directly on the maritime terrorism Iran has been imposing on the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. It is working to expand its activity to the Indian Ocean too and later to the Red Sea and to the Mediterranean Sea as well,” said Gallant.
The allegation comes amidst flared tensions between the two regional rivals over Iran’s nuclear program and the support for Palestinian and Lebanese paramilitary groups. Israel and Iran have been blaming each other for incidents of unclaimed attacks on their ships in the Gulf in recent years.
Previously, Iran said on Sunday that it was capable of securing regional waters in cooperation with other regional actors at a ceremony near Iran’s southern waters to welcome back two Iranian warships that traveled around the world in eight months.
This follows the move by the Middle East-based commanders of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to tour the Strait of Hormuz on the USS Paul Hamilton in a show of unity against Tehran and indicate oversight of the security of ships transiting through the waters.
Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said the Western countries involved must explain their activities in the Strait of Hormuz, which was thousands of kilometers away from their respective territorial waters.
US Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who oversees the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, said during their transit around Hormuz that Iran had seized eight ships and attacked seven others in the last two years. Washington has called the seizures “unlawful.”
Photo: US Department of State/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)