The recent Israeli adventure raises several questions, including: what were the clandestine goals of the Zionist regime in targetting their own tanker? What was the reason for the immediate support of the UK and US foreign ministers? And what was the reason for the wave of rumors and propaganda that followed in the wake of the attack?
The answers can be generally analyzed as follows:
1. The Zionists launched a coordinated operation in the Persian Gulf, which began with a drone attack on the Israeli-managed MV Mercer Street tanker, killing a Briton and a Romanian, followed by statements of support for the Zionist regime by foreign ministers of the UK, the US, Canada, Romania, and NATO, as well as collective threats from the UK and the US. They accused and condemned Iran for the attack without providing the slightest evidence for the country’s involvement.
Zionists have a long history of carrying out self-targeting military scenarios and deception tactics
2. The Zionists are well-versed in and have a long history of carrying out self-targeting military scenarios and deception tactics. As mentioned in the memoirs of the regime's former Prime Minister Golda Meyer, it was the Mossad that blew up a ship carrying Jewish immigrants because they wanted to prevent the reverse migration from the occupied territories, but the incident was blamed on the Palestinians instead. Experts on Israeli affairs believe that the AMIA bombing in Argentina, the killing of a number of Jews in a synagogue, and several suspected terrorist attacks in France, including the Charlie Hebdo shooting, were all attributed to the Zionist regime and carried out by the Mossad.
3. Following the suspicious drone attack on the empty tanker off the Omani coast, rumors began to circulate in order to make the situation in the Persian Gulf look critical. There were also baseless reports about attacks on other vessels, including one on an Emirati vessel off the port of Fujairah in the UAE, which is actually in the control of the US Navy.
4. This Zionist propaganda war and self-targeting, in which they killed a British and a Romanian nationals, is being carried out in full coordination with the US and the UK with several objectives in mind, including:
Zionists see their survival in creating insecurity and waging wars
- The Zionists see their survival in creating insecurity and waging wars and have always lived in a war zone. These days, they are very upset about the presence of Iranian tankers and the sale of Iranian oil to Syria and Lebanon, and as such, they seek an excuse and legitimacy to attack Iranian tankers off the coast of Syria and Lebanon. And because they are limited in naval warfare, they seek the support of the US and British armies so that the Israeli regime could undermine Iran’s economic exchanges with Syria and Lebanon by attacking Iranian tankers while Iran would be rendered unable to retaliate in the face of Israel’s piracy and fabricated naval crisis in order to prevent a confrontation with the US and the UK.
- The Americans see these events as a pressure mechanism against the new Iranian government to force it back to JCPOA talks and accept their terms on limiting the country’s drones and its reach in the region.
- Iran will continue to humiliate the US and return to the seventh round of the Vienna talks from a position of power and rightfulness without relying on the success of the JCPOA for its economic growth. This position will severely weaken the US in its efforts to build a coalition against Iran. The US, despite its best efforts, has failed to blame Iran for the “death” of the JCPOA, because it was the US itself which officially withdrew from the deal, and if it really wanted a return to the JCPOA as Biden has claimed, it would have issued an order to suspend the sanctions against Iran. But Biden and other US officials have made it clear that they want a new and broader nuclear deal without lifting the sanctions and living up to their commitments.
US needs to make Iran look threatening to put pressure on its oil sales
- In order to put more pressure on Iran and control the vital routes of oil exports and its derivatives from the Persian Gulf to China, South Korea, and other countries, the US needs to make Iran look threatening and reach a more serious consensus against it. This is while the Persian Gulf under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran enjoys stability and safety on its shipping routes.
- Neither Iran nor any of its allies were involved in the attack on the Zionist tanker. The port of Fujairah is under the control of the US Navy. Therefore, it is perfectly clear that the attack was a scenario fabricated by the Israeli regime, the US, and the UK aimed at building a new coalition and reaching a new consensus against Iran as well as having an excuse to impose new sanctions and leveling more pressure on the Iranian new government, as well as China.
- Although it is highly unlikely that there are any more new sanctions left to be imposed, the US’ main goals are to destabilize ports, level pressure on China's economy amid a flurry of media propaganda, exert pressure on Iran's oil and gas condensate exports to East Asia, and a second attempt at building a naval coalition in the Persian Gulf.
5. Since the Presidential transition of Joe Biden, almost all foreign policy and national security officials in the US are Zionists, and as such, we are likely to see more militarization against Russia, China, and Iran in the interests of the Zionist regime.
When the Americans suffered a humiliating and unprecedented defeat in their efforts to bring the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf under their own dominance in recent years, they engaged in a proxy war against Yemen to turn the tables in their own favor by taking control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, but they failed in their effort with the defeat of the Saudis despite all intelligence and military support from the US Army and the Zionist regime. Therefore, they are once again trying to form a coalition against Iran in order to take control of the Persian Gulf.
It seems that the US military, despite making every effort to stay in Syria and Iraq, will not be able to escape the consequences of its brutal assassination of Sardar Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, and will have to leave Syria and Iraq after suffering heavier blows in the coming days by the Syrian army and the resistance forces in Iraq. The US will thus fail to form a coalition against Iran by causing insecurity and destabilizing the Persian Gulf.
The Zionist regime has no place in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, either, and it cannot create immunity for itself by self-targeting and fabricating scenarios. The UAE, which has allowed the Americans to control its numerous military bases, is playing with fire in the region.
By: Gholam Hossein Moshtaghinia, senior expert on regional affairs
Translated by: M. Sheykhi
MNA/5273345