In all the back and forth over who attacked what in the Persian Gulf, Stratfor has suggested that perhaps Saudi Arabia was not involved in the attack on an Iranian tanker there. Instead, write Stratfor analysts, it may have been Israel. They write:
An incident involving Iran’s Sabiti oil tanker on Oct. 11 in the Red Sea increasingly appears to have resulted from an attack, marking the latest major hostile incident in a region on edge in recent months after Iranian or Iranian-backed attacks on oil-related targets. Images released by Iran in the last several days show two large holes in the tanker’s starboard hull, suggesting a projectile or limpet mine breached it.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif have so far not blamed a specific country for the incident, though they have vaguely referenced that “regime” assistance was involved. Israel, not Saudi Arabia or the United States, probably would have been most likely to carry out such an attack.
Read more here.