Iran has been facing repeated onslaughts against its strategic assets and infrastructure for quite some time now. After it became clear to the world community that the Islamic Republic was enriching Uranium way over the mark any nation producing merely power from nuclear energy should, Tehran’s assets have been targeted regularly. Sabotage of its nuclear sites, the assassination of its top nuclear scientists and sinking of its warships – Iran has come to suffer from it all. Now, Iran’s largest warship seems to have been drowned in the Strait of Hormuz after a massive fire struck it.
Associated Press reported that the blaze began around 2:25 a.m. on Wednesday and firefighters tried to contain it. What is very strange is the fact that the largest warship of the Iranian Navy caught a massive fire whose cause remains unknown, and subsequently sank. Kharg was used to resupply other ships in the fleet at sea and conduct training exercises. It could handle both refuelling and replenishing supplies of ships at sea, and had great manoeuvrability, enabling it to sail through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea and into South Asia – all while carrying heavy cargo.
As such, the Kharg was among the most strategic, crucial and reliable vessels of the Iranian Navy. With it sunk, the Islamic Republic’s interests and naval operations at large are bound to take a massive hit. Around the world, speculations are rife of the fire – which is believed to have been started from the vessel’s boiler room, being the handiwork of Israel and part of the Jewish nation’s shadow war against Iran.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the Kharg. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the US was aware of the loss of the ship but declined to comment further – showing that perhaps the White House was informed in advance regarding the purported Israeli attack on Iran’s largest naval vessel.
Had the Kharg caught the fire and mysteriously sunk alone – the development might have truly been shadowed with uncertainty regarding Israeli involvement. However, as if to almost cement beliefs of Israeli involvement in the incident – a major oil refinery in Tehran was engulfed in a huge blaze just hours after on Wednesday morning. The massive fire at Shahid Tondguyan oil refinery, considered among Iran’s largest sent thick plumes of black smoke over Tehran.
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The sinking of the Kharg is the second time in the past three months that an Iranian vessel has suffered serious damage at sea. In early April, an Iranian freighter, which supported the Houthi war effort off the coast of Yemen was damaged by mines placed on its hull by Israeli commandos.
The timing of the two incidents is especially crucial. Just on Tuesday, a day prior to the sinking of the Iranian vessel and fire at the oil refinery, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it absolutely clear that the Jewish nation will risk its ties with the United States if that meant warding off the nuclear threat posed by Iran. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the new Mossad chief, and as such, the formidable intelligence and clandestine agency was subtly told to continue with its onslaughts against Iranian nuclear and military assets until the Shi’ite nation’s entire nuclear programme falls apart.
Earlier, as reported by TFI, outgoing Mossad chief Yossi Cohen had said, “Activity against the Iranian regime must be stepped up so that it understands that crossing the lines will cost it immense damage.” In the past two months, Israel has struck Iran and its strategic assets at least four different times. Israel attacked an Iranian shipping vessel with its mines, and it was then discovered that the ship was weaponised and mostly used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Then came the attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, where the new and advanced centrifuges installed by Iran started operating just hours before a blackout and electrical fault struck the site.
Last year, in a huge setback to Tehran’s nuclear programme, Mossad reportedly assassinated Iran’s chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Earlier in May, meanwhile, a massive fire broke out in Iran’s southwestern city of Bushehr near the Islamic Republic’s only functioning nuclear power plant. Israel also seems to have been involved with Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, meeting with a rather extreme accident, while travelling to Kashan to visit the Natanz facility.
Israel’s onslaught on Iranian nuclear ambitions and operations will continue till the moment Tehran does not abandon its nuclear programme completely. The timing of two purported attacks on Iran – right after Netanyahu warned both Iran and the US is extremely important. It is also an indicator of the times to come.