Friday, May 27, 2022

"Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized two Greek oil tankers Friday in helicopter-launched raids in the Persian Gulf"

WaPo:

The action appeared to be retaliation for Athens’ assistance in the U.S. seizure of crude oil from an Iranian-flagged tanker this week in the Mediterranean Sea

...

Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency warned in a tweet: “There are still 17 other Greek ships in the Persian Gulf that could be seized.”

Meanwhile, the Guard is building a massive new support ship near the Strait of Hormuz as it tries to expand its naval presence in waters vital to international energy supplies and beyond, according to satellite photos obtained by The Associated Press.

Guardian:

The Iranian defence ministry reported an “accident” at its high-security Parchin complex on Wednesday, which killed an engineer and injured another. The New York Times reported on Friday that it was an attack using quadcopter suicide drones, that fitted a pattern of Israeli operations against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure. The report said the drone strike was aimed at a facility where Iran is developing its own drone technology.

According to the Times, Israel has also informed the US that it was behind the assassination of an IRGC colonel, Sayyad Khodai, who was shot by gunmen on motorbikes as he was getting out of his car outside his home in Tehran on Sunday. An unnamed intelligence official was quoted as saying Israel intended the killing to serve as a warning to Tehran to stop targeting Israeli citizens abroad.