Iranian Deterrence: The “Israeli” Enemy Regresses towards the Sea

According to Ben-Yishai, "the two sides do not want to deteriorate into a war that could be economically and politically destructive for them". "It is known that ‘Israel’ attacked Iran's oil tankers heading for Syria”, he said. “The Iranians did not remain silent and attacked commercial ships partially or completely owned by ‘Israel’ sailing in the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Sea. The Iranian objective seems to be to retaliate against ‘Israel’ and to cause its associated ships to refrain from sailing on the international sailing routes that pass through the Gulf or the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman”.

Ron Ben-Yishai added that these routes are vital to the large-scale trade between Europe and Asia via the Suez Canal and between the “Israeli” entity and Asia. In addition, it is important to note that the Iranian attacks also raised the insurance premiums paid by “Israeli” and “non-‘Israel’” ship-owners for ships and their cargo, if they sail in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea or the Gulf on their way from the occupied territories or Europe to destinations in Asia.

Ben-Yishai pointed out that heavy and costly protection measures such as high insurance premiums paid by “Israeli” commercial shipping agents, or those in a relationship with Tel Aviv, are causing heavy economic losses that could make it useless to navigate these routes near the coast of Iran.

In contrast, Iranian ships attacked by “Israel”, according to foreign reports, are Iranian-owned and are mostly insured by an Iranian insurance company or associated with Iran, which means that ships linked to “Israel” are more affected than Iranian ones by the maritime-economic warfare.

The “Israeli” commentator concluded that “Israel’s” interest is in reducing the intensity of the maritime confrontation and in this regard a decision has been taken in Tel Aviv last week.