In this file photo taken on August 03, 2021 the Israeli-linked Japanese-owned tanker MT Mercer Street, off the port of the Gulf Emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. (AFP)

A war of tankers has raged for several years, Israel and its allied forces have attacked Iran, sabotaging its tankers, ships and equipment, Iran has responded with similar moves, albeit on a smaller scale, in order to counter Israeli, British, and American aggression.

However, this week, a lot more attention has been devoted to the region since an Israeli-managed oil tanker, the Mercer Street, was hit in the Gulf of Oman.

Israel, the United States and Britain were quick to blame Iran. But do they actual have any proof to back this claim up?

In the Gulf of Oman, entering into the Strait of Hormuz and onwards to the Persian Gulf, a war of tankers has been raging for several years, Israel and its allies have attacked Iran, sabotaging its tankers, ships, and much more, yet on is unlikely to hear about it in the media.

This week, however, there has been a lot more attention focused on the region as an Israeli managed oil tanker, the Mercer Street, was hit in the Gulf of Oman.

Israel, the United States and Britain were very quick to blame Iran, but do they actually have any proof to back this claim?

Was this incident an Iranian response to recent attacks by Israel or was it a false flag operation meant to malign the Islamic Republic and escalate the situation in the so called War of tankers into an all out conflict?

The Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman are connected by the Strait of Hormuz which sits off the coast of Iran.

This tiny and very vital passage, through which a good deal of important cargo is ferried making the ships a prime target not just for piracy and state piracy but international incidents as well.

Around 1/5 of the world’s maritime oil, as well as 1/3 of the world’s liquefied gas supply, passes through this vital artery. One of the oil tankers carrying such cargo was the Mercer Street. This Japanese owned vessel flying the Liberian flag was managed by Israeli owned Zodiac Maritime, which belongs to a very rich Israeli businessman named Eyal Ofer.

News first broke on July 30 that an oil tanker named the Mercer Street had been attacked in the sea of Oman. Aboard this ship, the British security guard and the Romanian Captain were killed after an unmanned aerial vehicle, a UAV, or a drone, laden with explosives hit the ship’s bridge, killing them both.

It has been reported that this was the third drone attack within 24 hours.

International condemnation followed very quickly with several countries immediately rushing to blame Iran, despite the lack of an investigation or any tangible evidence that Iran was behind the attack.

The head of Israel’s occupation forces, Benny Gantz, threatened military action saying that Israel was prepared to strike Iran, the new Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, made another veiled threat saying that he would exact a price on Iran, as Israel pushed for the United Nations to condemn the Islamic Republic.

British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said that Iran must face up to the consequences, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that he was confident that Iran had carried out the attack. This was followed by British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, saying that according to British assessments, it was, highly likely that Iran had attacked the vessel.

As is obvious, confident, and highly likely, are certainly not absolutes. Absent from all this sharp rhetoric and all this condemnation was any actual proof, any actual evidence, that Iran was behind the attack.

Nevertheless, all these parties stand more than ready to lay the blame at Iran’s feet, despite the fact that this drone was not made in Iran, nor was it fired from Iran. Now, Iran has resoundingly denied any involvement with both attacks on the Mercer Street and the other Panama flagged ship that was supposedly hijacked a few days later.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, called the accusations of the G7 baseless and pointed out the suspicious timing of the attack right on the cusp of President Ibrahim Raesi’s inauguration.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan, said that Russia did not believe Iran was behind the attack, and that the facts, needed to be ascertained and established first before a concrete position could be reached on the issue.

Nevertheless, despite the lack of any actual evidence, any definitive proof of Iranian involvement, some analysts in the region have speculated that if Iran were indeed behind the incident, what this could actually mean for the so called War of tankers, that has been taking place there in the last few years.

It is a well established fact that Israeli warplanes regularly carry out illegal airstrikes on Syrian soil, violating Lebanese airspace in the process.

Now analysts in the region pointed to the fact that just about a week before the two men aboard the Mercer Street were killed, it was reported that two resistance fighters were martyred after Israeli warplanes bombed locations inside Syria.

Now some have speculated the both incidents could be related. Al Alam Television, citing unnamed sources, said that the tanker incident could have been a response, a potential response, to the Israeli aggression inside Syria.

Following the attack on the Mercer Street there was report of a second incident emerging from the Gulf of Oman. Now, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, the UKMTO, had reported on August 3 that a Panama flagged ship, named the Asphalt Princces, had potentially been hijacked.

The details were obscure with no concrete evidence because the mainstream media immediately reported the incident as fact and, of course, blamed Iran despite any actual proof.

The UKMTO then stated that, mysteriously, these alleged hijackers decided to just leave the ship quietly without incident.