JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused arch-foe Iran of attacking an Israeli-linked tanker earlier this month, a strike which the ship’s operator said caused “minor” damage.
“On the Iranian front, our efforts are unceasing for the simple reason that Iran’s acts of aggression are unceasing,” Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting.
“Last week, Iran again attacked an oil tanker in the Arabian Gulf (region) and struck at the international freedom of navigation,” he said.
Campo Square, a Liberian-flagged product tanker, was on February 10 “hit by an airborne object while in the Arabian Sea, approximately 300 nautical miles (555 kilometers) off the coasts of India and Oman,” according to Eletson, the Greek company that manages the vessel.
“Both the vessel and crew are safe and proceeding as per planned passage. There is minor damage to the vessel,” Eletson said in a statement Saturday.
A spokesman for Eletson told AFP that the Liberian company which owns Campos Square was “linked” to Zodiac Maritime, the British shipping company founded and chaired by an Israeli, Eyal Ofer.
Iran has not commented on the attack.
Iran has been engaged in a shadow war with Israel for years, with Tehran accusing Israel of being behind a series of sabotage attacks and assassinations targeting its nuclear program, carried out alongside the United States.
Tehran has accused Israel of being behind a January drone attack on a defense ministry site in Iran’s central Isfahan province.
In November, Israel and the United States blamed Iran for a drone strike on a tanker off the coast of Oman. The vessel was operated by a company owned by Idan Ofer, Eyal’s brother.
A Zodiac Maritime-operated vessel was struck by a drone off Oman in July 2021, killing two crew members, in an attack blamed on Iran.
Israeli PM: Iran attacked oil tanker last week in Arabian Gulf
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Israeli PM: Iran attacked oil tanker last week in Arabian Gulf
- Campo Square, a Liberian-flagged product tanker, was on February 10 hit by an airborne object while in the Arabian Sea
In major policy shift on Syria, UN Security Council lifts sanctions on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham
- Move reflects evolving Syrian political landscape in the post-Assad era, ending a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo
NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Friday removed Al-Nusra Front, the militant group that evolved into Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, from its so-called Daesh and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.
The move signals a major shift in international policy toward Syria’s evolving political landscape in the post-Assad era, and ends a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo that have been imposed on the group since 2014.
Al-Nusra Front and Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham were led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed Al-Julani, who is now Syria’s president and was a leading figure in the offensive that toppled the Assad regime.
The consensus decision by the Security Council’s sanctions committee was announced by the UK, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month and was acting in the absence of the chair of the committee. It followed a request by the new Syrian authorities to delist “Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.”
The decision means measures that were applied to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham under Security Council Resolution 2734, adopted in 2024, no longer apply. As a result, UN member states are notrequired to freeze the group’s funds, restrict the movement of its representatives, or block the supply or transfer of arms and related materiel.
Al-Nusra Front was added to the sanctions list for its ties to Al-Qaeda and involvement in the financing and execution of militant activities during the war in Syria. The UN initially continued to treat the group’s successor organization, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, as a listed alias.
Al-Sharaa has said the group severed all prior transnational jihadist links and is now solely focused on local Syrian matters.
