Ecological Terrorism: Iran Behind Major Oil Spill Off Israel’s Coast

VIJETA UNIYAL MAR 4, 2021 1:00 PM

The Israeli government has confirmed Iranian involvement in the massive oil spill that hit its coast last month. “Now we see Iran is not just terrorizing [Israel] with [attempts at attaining] nuclear weapons and entrenching itself in our region, but also by harming the environment,” Israel’s Environment Minister Gila Gamliel said on Wednesday. The Jerusalem Post reported the Israeli minister’s statement:

Iran intentionally polluted the Mediterranean Sea and the Israel’s shores in an act of ecological terrorism, causing the greatest environmental disaster in Israel’s history, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said on Wednesday.“This pollution has people who are responsible for it and have to pay the price. Our nature is damaged, our animals are harmed, thanks to merciless environmental criminals,” Gamliel said.Gamliel explained that, following a two-week investigation, the Environmental Protection Ministry found that the ship that leaked the crude oil, called the Emerald, was owned by a Libyan company and sailed from Iran to Syria. It departed Iran, turning off its automatic identification system (AIS) – which transmits its location to other ships in the area. It turned the AIS on as it went through the Suez Canal, and then off again as it approached Israel’s shores.The ship remained within tens of kilometers of Israel’s shores, within Israel’s economic waters, for nearly a full day, spilling large amounts of oil on February 1-2, with its AIS off.Then it continued on to Syria, where it turned on its transmitter, and it returned to Iran, turning off its AIS as it passed Israel. It is currently in Iran.The tar reached Israeli shores on February 17.

The spill originated from an oil tanker that set sail from Iran. The vessel turned off its tracking devices before it entered Israeli waters and dumped the oil near the coastline. Described by the media as the worst environmental disaster in the country’s modern history, the spill “severely contaminated most of Israel’s coastline and killed wildlife,” the Times of Israel reported. The oil and tar washed up along 100 miles out of Israel’s 120 mile-long coastline, forcing the government to close the beaches and ban the sale of Mediterranean seafood. This is the second act of maritime terrorism by Iran in recent weeks. Last week, Iran targeted an Israeli ship in the Gulf on Oman. The Asia-bound cargo vessel was reportedly hit by an Iranian missile in the high seas, causing damage but no loss of life. It is also not the first time Iran involved itself in environmental terrorism against the Jewish State. Last summer, Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas launched incendiary balloons and drones from its base in Gaza, destroying thousands of acres of forest and agricultural land in southern Israel.

While Iran unleashes an all-out terror campaign against Israel, the key U.S. ally in the region, President Joe Biden is busy appeasing Mullahs to revive the Obama-Kerry nuclear deal. The White House has eased the regime’s sanctions, rolling back major restrictions place by President Donald Trump. Last month, Biden backed away from enforcing U.N. sanctions and arms embargo placed by the previous administration. Tehran has responded to the return of the Obama-Esque appeasement policy by demanding ‘reparations’ worth $1 trillion, shutting out the UN nuclear inspectors, and boosting its uranium production, a key component for the bomb.

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