It’s a mistake to assume this is Israel. It very well may be, but there are a lot of other legitimate possibilities, some more likely than the other.

Iran has a lot of enemies in the gulf. In Saudi Arabia’s case it is fighting a a proxy war in Yemen. Iran’s partner in that war, the Houthi’s, has not been shy about attacking Saudi Arabia directly (not going to get into who is right or wrong and if it’s justified or not). It could be the Saudi backed Haida led Yemeni government attacked an Iranian ship at the the Saudi’s request as an act of revenge. But it also could be one of a 100 other possibilities. Either way we are unlikely to find out the real answer and it’s best not to speculate. None of the parties involved will ever admit to it and it’s likely whoever did do it used a proxy.

Even if we found out who did the act, we wouldn't know why. If it was Israel, are they doing the Saudis a favour? Or the other way around?

I doubt that Israel didn't know about the action... and I'd say it's likely they sanctioned it.

Oof. Israel really been trying to make any US/Iranian deal impossible.

Just wait until the US and probably everyone else start feeling the effects of all the money printed for and consequences of shutting the global economy down for a year.

We’re due for a war. Iran seems just a likely a target. All our military stuff is still painted tan even.

It’s mind boggling that anyone doesn’t see there will be a Biden Admin war. The justifications will be funny to see after WWIII that Trump was ”going” to get us into, just another Trump failure I guess.

I wonder if Iran will respond as they promised in March: https://insiderpaper.com/iran-warns-to-raze-tel-aviv-if-isra...

They are too busy with US in nuclear deal I guess.

Maybe a response to the Israeli ship that was hit with a mine this past weekend?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-gray-zone-attack-on-cargo... (Limpet mine explosion on the MV Helios Ray cargo ship)

There were at least 3 attacks to Iranians ships in March before that mine explosion. So 5 known attacks in total in 2021, and at least a dozen in 2020.

I don't think this was a response to that mine explosion, but rather just a new event in a series of on going attacks to Iranian ships. That mine explosion however was likely a response from Iran.

"A third maritime security source told Reuters that three other Iranian ships had been damaged in recent weeks by unknown causes when sailing through the Red Sea."

"Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel has targeted at least a dozen vessels bound for Syria and mostly carrying Iranian oil"

https://www.reuters.com/article/iran-ship-int-idUSKBN2B41SC

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/12/israel-bombed-...

yeah, just at the convenient time for Netanyahu to detract the press and the public from his corruption trial- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/world/middleeast/netanyah...

Here is what the Saudis have to say

https://youtu.be/OaqseHPQAh0

Likely Israel continuing to try to shore up its position with Saudi Arabia.

What is Insider Paper?

If you check https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=insiderpaper.com all the submitted articles are from the same user. Seems fishy, should we alert the mods?

One of the sources cited in this article is a Twitter account with 4,623 followers that goes by @PutinIsAVirus. Is this a credible source? Not saying I have any controverting evidence against the statements made in the article, but I am very skeptical of these generic news outlets that cite anonymous Twitter sources.

https://twitter.com/PutinIsAVirus/status/1379481592599621641...

I think he is right, "Automated Information System transmissions and analysis of commercial satellite images show the ship has barely moved in the past three years"

Here is the source: https://news.usni.org/2020/10/26/iranian-spy-ship-commands-s...

So... Assuming this is Israel, is it a direct move to help the Saudis in Yemen (why else strike a ship there?) or just an attempt at escalation of the pseudo-war (provoke Iran to sabotage Biden or tit for tat with limpet mines etc)? Or both?

Hopefully Iran ignore it and we see progress in the Vienna talks.

Looks like a "fuck you" to Biden:

5 hours ago: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56643178: Iran nuclear deal: US joins Vienna talks aimed at reviving accord

Two months ago:

>Israel’s military chief Tuesday warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, even if it toughens its terms, adding he’s ordered his forces to step up preparations for possible offensive action against Iran during the coming year.

>The comments by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi came as Israel and Iran both seek to put pressure on President Joe Biden ahead of his expected announcement on his approach for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program. In Iran, leaders said they would not wait indefinitely for Biden to act.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-israel-iran-iran-nuclea...