An Iranian cargo ship believed to be a base for the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen has been attacked.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday confirmed the attack, saying the MV Saviz was hit with an unknown explosion that caused “minor damage” around 6am local time in the Red Sea on Tuesday, close to the shores of Djibouti.
Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the Saviz is a non-military vessel formally registered with the International Maritime Organisation that acts as Iran’s “logistic station” in the Red Sea, providing anti-piracy services.
“Fortunately no fatalities were incurred due to the incident, and technical evaluations on how the incident occurred and its origins are under way,” he said.
The attack came as Iran and world powers sat down in Vienna for the first talks about the US potentially rejoining Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal, showing that challenges ahead do not rest merely in those negotiations.
Iran denies arming the Houthis, but components found in the rebels’ weaponry link back to Tehran.
In a state TV statement, an Iranian anchor cited a New York Times story published Wednesday that quoted an anonymous US official saying Israel warned the US about a planned attack on the vessel.
In a statement, the US military’s Central Command only said it was “aware of media reporting of an incident involving the Saviz in the Red Sea”.
“We can confirm that no US forces were involved in the incident,” the command said. “We have no additional information to provide.”
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Al Arabiya TV cited unnamed sources as saying the vessel was attacked off the coast of Eritrea and was affiliated with the IRGC, but provided no evidence to support the assertion.
There was no official Iranian reaction to the incident.
