The Iranian ship which was struck by an alleged Israeli mine in the Red Sea last week has not moved since the incident, according to a satellite image released by Israeli intelligence firm ImageSat International.
The image shows the MV Saviz, a suspected covert Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forward base which has been stationed in a strategic position on the coast of Yemen, has remained in the same location since it was damaged by an assumed limpet mine last Tuesday.
According to a report by Automated Information System transmissions and analysis of commercial satellite images, the Saviz has been stationed in the same spot for the past three years and has barely moved during that period.
Iran and Israel have reportedly targeted each other's ships recently. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel has been targeting Iranian oil shipments to Syria since as early as 2019.
According to the report, the attacks were carried out using a variety of weaponry that has been confirmed to include naval mines as well as other, more advanced techniques. This comes as a larger part of Israel’s undeclared war against Iranian assets of all kinds in Syria.
Israel has, until now, practiced a policy of strict nondisclosure on the matter. It is suspected that this revelation is motivated by the Biden administration’s attempts to draft a Middle East policy.
Also last month, an Israeli-owned container ship was attacked by an Iranian missile in the Arabian Sea. There were no casualties, but the ship was damaged.
The ship was on its way from Tanzania to India. The ship's crew decided to continue sailing to India where an assessment of the damage would be conducted.
The Israeli government believes that this was a deliberate Iranian attack, in retaliation for another attack on an Iranian ship about two weeks earlier off the coast of Syria.
On Sunday, an Iranian official blamed "sabotage" for the disruption of the electrical distribution grid of the Natanz nuclear facility. A fire later broke out at the facility.
Two intelligence officials told The New York Times on Sunday that the fire at the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran was caused by a large explosion that completely destroyed the independent — and heavily protected — internal power system that supplies the underground centrifuges that enrich uranium.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the explosion had dealt a severe blow to Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and that it could take at least nine months to restore Natanz’s production.
The intelligence officials said there had been an “Israeli role” in the incident. Israel has not publicly confirmed or denied involvement in the incident.
