by Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom
If the Iranians attack a Japanese-owned civilian vessel, sailing under a Liberian flag, with crewmen from across the globe, in response to Israeli attacks in Syria, and kill citizens from the United Kingdom and Romania, it certainly illustrates the Islamic republic's inability to harm Israel.
The Iranian attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street was carried out, based on claims by Iranian media outlets, in response to an Israeli airstrike in Syria last week. In retrospect, the Iranians are attempting to establish a new equation, whereby they retaliate for Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
The attack at sea exposed Iran's toolbox as empty. If the Iranians attack a Japanese-owned civilian vessel, sailing under a Liberian flag, with crewmen from across the globe, in response to Israeli attacks in Syria, and kill citizens from the United Kingdom and Romania, it certainly illustrates the Islamic republic's inability to harm Israel. It's important to understand, commercial ships sailing around the world operate a satellite-based automatic identification system (AIS) that transmits their location, such that their precise location can be known at all times. Additionally, the ships can report being under attack to warn other vessels – hence, if an initial attack has failed, the Iranians could immediately receive that information and then know to launch a secondary drone. Employing a suicide drone to hit a ship of this sort is a relatively easy operation that doesn't require complex intelligence gathering or preparation.
In the past, according to foreign sources, Israel has attacked Iranian oil tankers to prevent the transfer of funds to Hezbollah, essentially igniting a maritime campaign where Israel doesn't hold an advantage. Israel hasn't operated at sea for quite some time now, thus the Iranian attack was viewed as a surprise. The Arab world, for which maritime freedom of movement and commerce is extremely important, cannot stand idly by and will respond to this attack through the diplomatic channels at its disposal. The Iranians will likely suspend further attacks on vessels around the world, thus ending the campaign on this particular front.
Israel must not respond at sea so as not to escalate the situation in this arena. Israel has a clear and consistent policy of preventing Hezbollah from acquiring sophisticated weapons for its precision missile project and preventing Iranian from establishing a foothold in Syria. In this campaign, which has persisted for many years already, Israel has the upper hand. Israel has an organized plan to continue acting against Iran's entrenchment in the area within the framework of the so-called "war between the wars." Israel must continue impairing Iran's effort to establish a presence in Syrian and Hezbollah's precision missile project through clandestine avenues. It seems this campaign is bearing fruit, is exceedingly problematic for the ayatollah regime in Tehran, and is impeding its efforts to establish a foothold in our region.
Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/latest-attack-exposes-irans-empty-toolbox/
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