DUBAI (Reuters) – An Israeli-owned commercial vessel was attacked in the Gulf waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, Iranian media and an Israeli television channel said on Tuesday.
Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 blames unnamed Israeli officials for arch-enemy Iran, which it described as a missile strike. 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’s Fujairah port, which led to an explosion, but that there were no casualties.
Officials in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the incident. An Israeli Ministry of Transportation spokesman 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 power plant, and after Iran and the United States began indirect talks in Vienna on ways to revive the world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
The Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen television channel, citing sources, identified the vessel as Hyperion.
Refinitive tracking data showed that the vehicle carrier of the Bahamas flag HYPERION RAY was on its way from Kuwait to the port of Fujairah.
The news agency Unews, which is also based in Lebanon, said that the vessel was transporting cars and had been in the Kuwaiti Mina Al Ahmadi port 48 hours earlier.
The British Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a statement of advice that it was aware of a possible incident near Fujairah and that investigations were underway.
Last month, an Iranian container ship was damaged during an attack in the Mediterranean Sea, two weeks after an Israeli-owned MV HELIOS RAY was hit by a same shipping database owned by the same company as the Hyperion Ray. an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.
The incidents have taken place since US President Joe Biden took office in January with a commitment to rejoin the 2015 nuclear power – which was welcomed into action by Israel’s predecessor Donald Trump – as Tehran again fully complies with the agreement.
Iran said on Tuesday that it would enrich uranium to 60% purity, a step that would take the fissile material closer to the 90% suitable for a nuclear weapon.
Reporting by Ghaida Ghantous and Lisa Barrington in Dubai, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Jonathan Saul in London; Edited by Alison Williams, William Maclean