Iran practically admits it attacked civilian Israeli-owned cargo ship Helios Ray

Iran's Kayhan newspaper, which is aligned with Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei, has all but admitted that the attack on an Israeli cargo ship Helios Ray was done by Iranian forces.

In an article headlined "Evil in Syria and Iraq was answered in Yemen and the Sea of ​​Oman," the newspaper concluded "this spy ship, despite moving secretly, has probably been ambushed by one of the branches of the Axis of Resistance."

The "Axis of Resistance" includes pro-Iran forces in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon, but the only possible source for such an attack in the Gulf of Oman is Iran itself.

The article says, "The attacks and crimes of the Zionist regime in the region, which have been carried out in public for some time, seem to have finally turned that regime into a legitimate target. A likely warship of this regime has been professionally targeted in the Oman Sea, which has completely confused the regime and its allies."

The Helios Ray was apparently hit by limpet mines, suffering two holes on both the starboard and port sides of the ship, each with a diameter of 1.5 meters. 

The ship is a vehicle carrier, and was traveling en route from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. It is registered under the flag of the Bahamas.

The damaged ship is now docked in Dubai.

Israeli officials say the attack has the hallmarks of  being from Iran, and it is similar to other attacks on ships in the Gulf of Oman attributed to Iran over the years.

The Kayhan newspaper alleges that the cargo ship was in fact a spy ship, claiming that the owner of the ship, Abraham "Rami" Ungar, is friends with Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad. 

Iran's pretense that the Helios Ray is a spy vessel is justification for the attack. It knows that any attack on a civilian target is terrorism by definition so, like Hamas shooting rockets to Israeli towns, it is pretending that the target is in fact military. 

Make no mistake, though: this is state sponsored terrorism. 

This is a rare case where Iran is practically admitting a direct attack on Israel. Usually it hides its attacks behind proxies like Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

Israel is likely to respond in a measured way to avoid escalation but also to make clear that it will not tolerate such an attack. 

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