An Israeli commercial ship was reportedly attacked in the Sea of Oman or northern Indian Ocean on Thursday or Friday and caught fire, according to Al Mayadeen TV and a US official.
This is the first time that such an incident has been reported following the seizure of a commercial vessel in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthis earlier this week. The Iranian government news agency IRNA and Fars news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard both published identical texts relaying what Al Mayadeen, a network affiliated with Iran has reported.
The Associated Press also quoted an unnamed American official as saying that a suspected Iranian Shahed-136 drone was used to attack the container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire. The report said the incident happened on Friday in international waters.
According to IRNA and Fars, there are no details available. The exact location of the alleged attack in the vast area was also not mentioned. The Sea of Oman lies to the southeastern shores of Iran and straddles its border with Pakistan.
They both also published the same photo with their reports showing a vessel on fire on open seas, but it is not clear if the photo is related to the incident claimed by Al Mayadeen.
Houthis are part of Iran’s network of proxy forces in the region that have launched attacks against Israel since the start of the Gaza war in October.
Photos emerged on social media on Saturday that showed black-veiled women forming a human tunnel, which many now refer to as ‘tunnel of horrors’, at one of Tehran’s main subway stations to make sure women wear proper hijab. Similar surveillance and enforcement have also been reported at other stations.
Since May, the capital’s subway stations have been the battleground of women who are against compulsory hijab and various hijab enforcers as well as some ordinary citizens who consider it their duty to force others to abide by the rules.
The women who wore green shoulder sashes with the words “guidance ambassadors” written on them stopped women who were not wearing headscarves to admonish them for breaking the compulsory hijab rules.
Responding to reporters’ questions on the topic after the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi declared that citizens’ groups were only carrying out ‘amr-e be marouf' for which everyone is responsible.
The phrase refers to a pious Muslim’s duty to urge others to avoid forbidden deeds and carry out what conforms with religious rules.
“We have not issued any particular permits for [their work],” Vahidi who is second in command of the police force after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, claimed while insisting that that all citizens have a religious duty to carry out ‘amr-e be marouf’ but this can only involve “nicely worded” verbal exhortation.
“Interesting! So, this tunnel of horrors at the metro is a citizens’ [initiative]!” Mostafa Faghihi, the managing director of the moderate conservative Entekhab news website tweeted Wednesday in reaction to Vahidi’s claim.
“Do people also pay their monthly salary? Are they also hired and organized under citizens’ supervision? No authorization required? How democratic and free!” Faghihi wrote referring to reports in August that Tehran municipality was planning to hire 400 uniformed hijab enforcers to deploy at subway stations of the capital.
Speaking to Faraz Daily news website, an official of the Tehran Metro Company had also earlier denied that that hijab enforcers are officially active in Tehran subway. Hadi Zand, head of international affairs and communications of Tehran Metro Company, told Faraz Daily that the company only has uniformed security personnel who are responsible for dealing with various issues including peddlers and ensuring the security of the subway system.
Many, including prominent reformist commentator Abbas Abdi, have raised objections to the deployment of ‘Hijab Patrols’ in Tehran’s subway stations, the police force’s use of CCTV to identify hijab infringers and recording their images.
In a commentary written for the reformist Etemad newspaper Tuesday, Abdi warned the authorities that that measures such as creating hijab enforcers “tunnels” in the subway corridors would only deepen the gap between the people and the authorities and increases public anger and hatred.
He also argued that introducing hijab enforcers as “guidance ambassadors” is unjustified because governments in the modern world are not mandated to guide people and the police is only responsible for establishing order. Hijab enforcers are municipality employees or police who act based on the orders they receive and get paid for their work like other employees, he said.
Former chief of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani tweeted that the ceasefire proves Israel has been defeated in the conflict. “Hamas was not destroyed” and remains at its positions, he stated. “The military infrastructure of resistance, especially tunnels, are active,” he added and said, “This is an absolute failure for Netanyahu”.
Although Iran now fully takes credit for supporting Hamas throughout the past two decades by providing both financial and military assistance, it has so far tried to avoid direct military involvement in the war. It knows that any open act of aggression against Israel in current conditions could invite retaliation, even from the United States. Its most powerful proxy force, the Lebanese Hezbollah, has also shied away from a full-scale war, limiting itself to border skirmishes with Israel.
However, Tehran’s diplomacy has been in full swing. Together with its ally Qatar, to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, knowing that the longer the conflict lasts, the weaker Hamas will become, with the ultimate likelihood of its full defeat. For that reason, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has been visiting Qatar and meeting with both Qataris and Hamas leaders residing in the Sheikdom trying to facilitate a ceasefire.
But the public rhetoric of Iranian regime officials has aimed at showing strength, not weakness. In his latest meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Amir-Abdollahian congratulated him for “resistance and victory,” stating, "The practical consequences of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm shook the world, and although the human losses suffered by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip were significant, bitter, and unpleasant, the dimensions of victory and achievements of the Palestinian people were much greater. It altered the strategic balances in various dimensions in favor of Palestine and to the detriment of the oppressive, invading, and criminal Zionist regime."
Earlier this month, the commander of IRGC aerospace force Gen. Amirali Hajizadeh in an interview with local media, called a war with the United States “illogical.” Although he was speaking in the context of why the Islamic Republic did not launch a full attack against US bases in the wake of Qassem Soleimani’s targeted killing in 2020, but the message was clear. Tehran knows that it would sustain heavy losses in case it crosses certain red lines, while also facing the danger of domestic unrest.
Iran’s anti-Western and staunchly anti-Israeli ruler Ali Khamenei has delivered public remarks on several occasions in the past few weeks, but except praising Hamas, he has been careful not to make escalatory remarks.
However, his loyal clerics use religious sermons to praise the October 7 Hamas terror attack that triggered the Gaza war. On Friday, Tehran’s prayer Imam Kazem Sedighi boasted that the Palestinians have gone on the offensive, and this is a lesson they learned from Iran’s “spirit of resistance.” He then went on attacking Western leaders for supporting Israel.
“The physical presence of the irrational, heartless, ruthless leaders of Western countries, led by the absent-minded President of the United States [in the occupied territories], followed by the support of the Chancellor of Germany and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the President of France, demonstrated that not only the Zionist regime but all the powers are fragile snowmen, and if humans rely on the power of God against them, their emptiness and futility will be revealed to the world,” the cleric said.
Meanwhile, Revolutionary Guard top commanders make daily statements about deploying new weapons, or simply praise Iran’s military power and progress. Meanwhile, Iranians opposed to the clerical regime ridicule the IRGC and regime insiders on social media by asking why they did not manage to go to Gaza and do what they have promised for decades – fighting against Israel.
