Israeli defense minister says Iran behind cargo ship explosion

The Israeli-owned cargo ship, Helios Ray, sits docked in port after arriving earlier in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 28 February 2021
Follow

Israeli defense minister says Iran behind cargo ship explosion

DUBAI: Iran was most likely behind an explosion that occurred earlier this week on an Israeli-owned cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman, the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said. 
The MV Helios Ray, which was carrying vehicles in the Gulf was struck on Febriuary 25.
“The location of the ship in relative close proximity to Iran raises the belief that Iran was responsible, but it must still be verified," Gantz said in an interview with Israeli state television Kan.

“Right now, at an initial assessment level, given the proximity and the context that is my assessment,” he added.And Gantz said that it was known that Iran was intending to target Israeli assets and citizens.
Top Israeli defense and political leaders will discuss on Sunday their response to the apparent attack, Kan reported citing officials who have said it "crossed a red line."

The explosion did not cause any casualties but left two 1.5-meter-diameter holes in the side of the vessel.

The MV Ray Helios arrived in Dubai's port for repairs Sunday, according to the Associated Press.

 The Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray was seen sitting at dry dock facilities in Dubai by an AP journalist. 

Reuters quoted a statement by a spokesman for Dubai state port operator DP World saying that “an assessment can be made” when the ship arrives. DP World owns and operates the dry docks, where ship repairs and maintenance are carried out.

Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the ship.

Desert Storm: 30 years on
The end of the Gulf War on Feb. 28, 1991 saw the eviction of Iraq from Kuwait but paved the way for decades of conflict

Enter


keywords

Lebanese PM designate Salam says he is against exclusion

Updated 11 sec ago
Follow

Lebanese PM designate Salam says he is against exclusion

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday that his hands are extended to everyone, saying he was opposed “to exclusion” a day after the Iran-backed Hezbollah group accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him.
Salam said he was against exclusion and on the contrary supported unity. “This is my sincere call, and my hands are extended to everyone,” he said.


Sudan rescuers say more than 120 killed by shelling around capital

Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

Sudan rescuers say more than 120 killed by shelling around capital

  • Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated in recent weeks after more than 20 months of war in Sudan

Port Sudan: Sudanese volunteer rescuers said shelling of an area of Omdurman, the capital Khartoum’s twin city just across the Nile River, killed more than 120 people.
The “random shelling” on Monday in western Omdurman resulted in the deaths of 120 civilians, said the Ombada Emergency Response Room, part of a network of volunteer rescuers across the war-torn country.
The network described the toll as preliminary and did not specify who was behind the attack.
The rescuers said medical supplies were in critically short supply as health workers struggled to treat “a large number of wounded people suffering from varying degrees of injuries.”
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated in recent weeks after more than 20 months of war in Sudan.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war which has left the country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of targeting civilians, including health workers, and indiscriminately shelling residential areas.
Most of Omdurman is under army control while the RSF holds the capital and part of the greater Khartoum area.
Residents on both sides of the Nile have reported shelling across the river, with bombs and shrapnel regularly striking homes and civilians.


Erdogan ally urges jailed Kurdish militant leader to announce PKK’s disbandment

Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

Erdogan ally urges jailed Kurdish militant leader to announce PKK’s disbandment

ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s key nationalist ally urged jailed PKK militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan to explicitly announce the group’s disbandment after his next expected meeting with the country’s pro-Kurdish political party.
The remarks by nationalist Devlet Bahceli came after a rare meeting between officials from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and Ocalan last week.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.


'Final round' of Gaza talks to start Tuesday in Qatar: source briefed on negotiations

Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

'Final round' of Gaza talks to start Tuesday in Qatar: source briefed on negotiations

Dubai: A “final round” of Gaza truce talks is due to start Tuesday in Qatar, said a source briefed on the negotiations aimed at ending the Israel-Hamas war after more than 15 months.
“A final round of talks is expected to take place today in Doha,” the souce told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Tuesday’s meetings “are aimed at finalizing the remaining details of the deal” with the heads of Israel’s intelligence agencies, the Middle East envoys for the incoming and outgoing US administrations and Qatar’s prime minister present.
Mediators are to meet separately with Hamas officials, the source said.


Syria’s new central bank chief vows to boost bank independence post Assad

Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

Syria’s new central bank chief vows to boost bank independence post Assad

  • Central bank is preparing draft law to boost independence, review of FX, gold reserves is under way
  • Governor says wants avoid printing money due to inflation impact

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new central bank governor, Maysaa Sabreen, said she wants to boost the institution’s independence over monetary policy decisions, in what would be a sea change from the heavy control exerted under the Assad regime.
Sabreen, previously the Central Bank of Syria’s number two, took over in a caretaker role from former governor Mohammed Issam Hazime late last year.
She is a rare example of a former top state employee promoted after Syria’s new Islamic rulers’ lightning offensive led to President Bashar Assad’s fall on Dec. 8.
“The bank is working on preparing draft amendments to the bank’s law to enhance its independence, including allowing it more freedom to make decisions regarding monetary policy,” she told Reuters in her first media interview since taking office.
The changes would need the approval of Syria’s new governing authority, though the process is at this stage unclear. Sabreen gave no indication of timing.
Economists view central bank independence as critical to achieve long-term macroeconomic and financial sector stability.
While the Central Bank of Syria has always been, on paper, an independent institution, under Assad’s regime the bank’s policy decisions were de facto determined by the government.
Syria’s central bank, Sabreen added, was also looking at ways to expand Islamic banking further to bring in Syrians who avoided using traditional banking services.
“This may include giving banks that provide traditional services the option to open Islamic banking branches,” Sabreen, who has served for 20 years at the bank, told Reuters from her office in bustling central Damascus.
Islamic banking complies with sharia, or Islamic law, and bans charging interest as well as investing in prohibited businesses such as trading in alcohol, pork, arms, pornography or gambling. Islamic banking is already well established in the predominantly Muslim nation.
Limited access to international and domestic financing meant the Assad government used the central bank to finance its deficit, stoking inflation.
Sabreen said she is keen for all that to change.
“The bank wants to avoid having to print Syrian pounds because this would have an impact on inflation rates,” she said.
Asked about the size of Syria’s current foreign exchange and gold reserves, Sabreen declined to provide details, saying a balance sheet review was still underway.
Four people familiar with the situation told Reuters in December that the central bank had nearly 26 tons of gold in its vaults, worth around $2.2 billion, some $200 million in foreign currency and a large quantity of Syrian pounds.
The Central Bank of Syria and several former governors are under US sanctions imposed after former Assad’s violent suppression of protests in 2011 that spiralled into a 13-year civil war.
Sabreen said the central bank has enough money in its coffers to pay salaries for civil servants even after a 400 percent raise promised by the new administration. She did not elaborate.
Reuters reported that Qatar would help finance the boost in public sector wages, a process made possible by a US sanctions waiver from Jan. 6 that allows transactions with Syrian governing institutions.
Inflation challenge
Analysts say stabilising the currency and tackling inflation will be Sabreen’s key tasks — as well as putting the financial sector back on a sound footing.
The Syrian currency’s value has tumbled from around 50 pounds per US dollar in late 2011 to just over 13,000 pounds per dollar on Monday, according to LSEG and central bank data.
The World Bank in a report in spring 2024 estimated that annual inflation jumped nearly 100 percent year-on-year last year.
The central bank is also looking to restructure state-owned banks and to introduce regulations for money exchange and transfer shops that have become a key source of hard currency, said Sabreen, who most recently oversaw the banking sector.
Assad’s government heavily restricted the use of foreign currency, with many Syrians scared of even uttering the word “dollar.”
The new administration of de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa abolished such restrictions and now locals wave wads of banknotes on streets and hawk cash from the backs of cars, including one parked outside the central bank’s entrance.
To help stabilize the country and improve basic services, the US last week allowed sanctions exemptions for humanitarian aid, the energy sector and sending remittances to Syria, although it reiterated the central bank itself remained subject to sanctions.
Sabreen said allowing personal transfers from Syrians abroad was a positive step and hoped sanctions would be fully lifted so banks could link back up to the global financial system.