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Source: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkYZlMsS00
With Attack on Iranian Military Ship, Israel Is Sending the U.S. a Clear Message
(Ynet News) Ron Ben Yishai - Iranian Revolutionary Guard commando boats are kept onboard the Saviz to protect Iranian oil tankers and vessels smuggling weapons to Syria and Lebanon. The vessel also acts as an intelligence base, monitoring Saudi vessels that are enforcing a maritime embargo on Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The aim of the attack was: 1) To retaliate for an Iranian attack on an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Arabian Sea last month. 2) To show the Iranians that Tehran would be wise to refrain from attacks on Israel's navy or Israeli-owned vessels anywhere, including in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. 3) To clarify to the U.S. that Israel will continue its fight against Iran's subversive actions in the region, even as the U.S. is attempting to rebuild relations with the Islamic Republic. Israel has come to understand that Washington is hoping to de-escalate their conflict with Iran at almost any cost so that the administration can focus on other issues. The Iranian nuclear program is a nuisance to the Americans. To avoid being dragged into a war, the administration is prepared to make significant concessions to the Iranians. Israel's intelligence agencies observed that the Iranians are not attempting to produce nuclear weapons at the moment but do want to be a nuclear threshold state. The Vienna talks will help them with this goal. Officials in Jerusalem are watching with concern as America appears ready to be humiliated by Iran as long as it returns to the 2015 agreement. Meanwhile, Iran's economy has rebounded thanks to covert oil sales to China and Russia, and its leaders no longer fear the sanctions. Iran inches closer every day to becoming a nuclear threshold state.