Israeli media reports that Israeli environmental protection minister Gila Gamliel on Wednesday said that a Libyan ship dumped oil off the Israeli coast, causing one of the worst environmental disasters in the country. According to the minister, the hand of Iran is behind the incident.
The history of the ship in question is very twisted as is the rest of the vessels of the maritime industry. It is very difficult to trace the real ownership of the boats because very often shell companies intervene with ships registered in one place, flying the flag of a different place, owned by a third party and captained by people from a fourth nation.
These artifices are widely used in the sea by Iran to circumvent international sanctions.
Israel, returning to the story, claims that the ship in question is the Libyan-owned Emerald oil tanker.
Environment Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said a tanker illegally transporting Iranian oil to Syria deliberately dumped its cargo off the Israeli coast. The ship flew the Panamanian flag. According to Israel, Iran is carrying out acts of terrorism not only trying to continue its nuclear program and trying to establish a base near the borders but also carrying out, as in this case, attacks of ecoterrorism.
"Our battle for nature and animals must be cross-border“Said the minister. “Together, we will bring to justice those responsible for environmental terrorism, those who committed this crime against humanity. We will continue to clean up damaged beaches and save animals. Together, we will win and remove the pollution from the coasts of our country “.
The ship was allegedly on its way from Iran to Syria smuggling crude oil, says Israel. Ships attempting to reach Syria from Iran in the past have always been blocked. The tanker shut down its automatic identification system, a kind of transponder. A common practice used by ships conducting illicit business. According to reports, the Emerald arrived tens of kilometers from the shores of Israel, within the exclusive economic zone. He spilled the oil on February 1 and 2 before continuing on to Syria. It took two weeks for the tar oil to reach the shores of Israel.
Excluding Israel's allegations, the ability of a ship to intentionally dump oil in a way that damages a country's coast two weeks later appears very complex. This would require studying the currents off the coast and knowing where the cargo needs to be unloaded and at what time to end up in a particular place.
Why is it only now after one month that Israel is uncovering a story that it considers an environmental terrorist attack?
The possibility that Iran risks damaging the Gaza coast or its Hezbollah friends in Lebanon who all share a coastline with Israel would appear to be a serious risk to Tehran.
However, recent incidents such as the Iranian cyberattack on Israel last year and other mini-attacks of various kinds could mean that the Islamic Republic is using all asymmetric means of attack at its disposal, possibly including the environment.