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Israel Targets Maritime Oil Smuggling from Iran to Syria
(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - The Wall Street Journal reported on March 11 that for the past 2 1/2 years Israel has been targeting maritime oil smuggling from Iran to Syria, striking at least 12 ships. An investigation by Ha'aretz reveals that several dozen attacks were carried out, which caused the Iranians cumulative damage of billions of dollars, amid a high rate of success in disrupting its shipping. The Israeli intelligence community found that the money from the oil shipments was used to finance arms for Hizbullah. In a large number of incidents, quiet acts of sabotage were carried out that damaged critical functions of the ships without the detonation of a bomb or the firing of a missile. In some cases ships were destroyed beyond repair, and the Iranians had to tow them back to the home port. The attacks did not harm those on the ships or entail sinking the ships and did not cause environmental damage.