Iran is now a target on the radar of the US, Britain, and Israel after allegedly carrying out a deadly drone attack. Drone attacks have become the new innovative way of destroying an enemy while remaining invisible. These attacks protect the perpetrators even from the public’s eye, and people have to wait for one to claim responsibility for an attack. This technology is now becoming a popular entity in most developed countries, especially those with military prowess and technological advancements. The drone attack witnessed last week has been blamed on Iran, so the US, Britain, and Israel are in pursuit of seeking revenge.
Surprise attacks are not a novel thing among these countries that seem to always clash. With the use of drones, it is now deemed easy to drop a bomb in an enemy’s territory without even endangering the lives of military personnel or security agents. The leaders of the nations mentioned above have adequate knowledge of who poses certain skills necessary for launching an attack. They also know nations that possess the vital equipment and technology needed for a drone attack. It is from this perspective that Iran was fingered in the drone attack.
Last week, on Thursday the 29 of July, the MV Mercer Street was bombed by a drone. The medium-sized fuel tanker, coming from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, had no cargo as it sailed on the coast of Oman, heading to the UAE refueling port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. The Liberian-flagged vessel is owned by the Japanese and operated by an Israeli company called Zodiac Maritime. Reports cited that an explosive-laden Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or drone struck the fuel tanker close to the bridge. The explosion was intense as damaged was enacted on the nearby living quarters. Two people lost their lives in that attack; and one of them was a British security guard, and the other was Romanian. A mayday distress radio call was put out before the tanker was escorted to port by two US Navy warships [Source].
Political analysts suggested that this attack is connected to the “shadow war,” which entails a series of attacks between Iran and Israel. Iran is said to be retaliating against Israel for killing prominent Iranian nuclear scientists to cap any progress in the development of the nuclear project of the country. The Iranians blame Israel for allegedly trying to sabotage their nuclear plans and hinder any improvements that might take place, which is why leading nuclear experts were assassinated.
Israeli-linked shipping has been prone to attacks in the previous months, and Iran was blamed. In April, Israel was accused of bombing the Savitz, an Iranian military supply ship, when sailing in the Red Sea. But the Iranian government denied all these accusations since it has no reason to attack Israel, and the allegations cannot be backed up by any evidence. Hence, this might be a “shove and push back” between the two nations, and it is a dangerous endeavor to exchange explosives of such magnitude which endanger human lives, though no one has lost their lives in the attacks on ships.
If the Iranians are responsible, then they might cause havoc because a British national was killed. Since Britain is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Iran “brushed off the wrong people.” The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Iran must “face up to the consequences of its actions” and described the incident as “an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping.”
Mohsen Baharvand, Iran’s Ambassador to the UK, was invited to the Foreign Office and assigned to inform his country to stop any actions against international shipping [Source]. But Tehran despised the US, Britain, and Israel for laying such accusations without proof and denied involvement in the drone attack.
From the surface, the US, Britain, and Israel have the same goal of revenge. Still, the US and Britain will exert more effort on the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which restricts Iran’s nuclear powers in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, but it froze when Trump pulled the US out of the talks in 2018. Israel uttered that “it will be sending a message to Iran that it will understand,” and this statement is a strong one that entails a bigger revenge strategy.
Whether Iran is guilty or innocent, the trio nations cannot make a move in the public’s eye, especially without proof of Iran’s involvement in the drone attack, and because of the attention this has gained, the proof must be tangible to be seen by people otherwise any attack on Iran will be viewed as unfair and inhuman.
