The New York Times reported that ‘Israel’ notified the United States that its forces had attacked an Iranian vessel, the Saviz, in the Red Sea.
Citing an unnamed American official, the paper said Israelis had called the attack “a retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Israeli vessels”.
The official also noted that the Saviz had been damaged below the water line.
He went on to say that it was possible that the attack had been delayed so that an American aircraft carrier in the area, the Dwight D. Eisenhower, could distance itself from the Saviz. At the moment when the Saviz was hit, the official noted, the Eisenhower was “about 200 miles away”.
Pentagon spokesperson Commander Jessica L. McNulty told The Hill that the US is “aware” of reports regarding the Saviz.
“We can confirm that no US forces were involved in the incident,” McNulty said. “We have no additional information to provide.”
Reports about the incident with the Saviz in the Red Sea came earlier in the day, with Iran’s Tasnim news agency reporting, citing sources, that the ship was damaged after an explosion by a limpet mine on its hull. Other reports suggested that the vessel had been attacked by a missile.
According to The NYT, several Telegram social media channels accused Tel Aviv of being behind the explosion.
No official comments from either Tehran or Tel Aviv followed the reports.
Source: Agencies
