Security sources in Israel said Friday that reports published last week about Israeli attacks against Iranian vessels have caused billions of dollars in financial loss to Iran and Hezbollah’s economy over the last two and a half years.
Amos Harel, the military correspondent and defense analyst for Haaretz, wrote on Friday that a report published in the Wall Street Journal about a dozen Israeli attacks against Iranian ships ferrying oil to Syria apparently uncovered only the tip of the iceberg of the economic warfare that Israel has been waging against Iran for the past two and a half years.
He said both Israel and Iran do not speak about those attacks, which remain their “biggest joint secret.”
Half of those strikes were launched at sea, he said.
Also, Maariv quoted sources on Friday as saying that the naval operations were carried out by Israel without leaving a trace, adding that Iran knows who is behind the attacks against its vessels.
“The attacks at sea are aimed at preventing the transfer of sophisticated weapons from Iran to Syria and Hezbollah,” Maariv wrote.
It said Israel also wants to try and prevent Hezbollah from obtaining “advanced anti-ship missiles” from Iran like the Yakhont, which it used successfully to strike the INS Hanit during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
The newspaper added that the second objective of the attacks is to wage “economic war” against Iran and to stop the transfer of oil to Syria.
“The Israeli attacks against Iranian vessels have led to an approximately $1 billion loss to Hezbollah over the last three years,” the newspaper said.
