Iranian ship affiliated with IRGC attacked - initial report

An Iranian cargo ship affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps was reportedly attacked off the coast of Eritrea in the Red Sea on Tuesday, according to the Saudi Al-Arabiya news outlet. The reports remained unconfirmed by any official source, but the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news reported that the ship was damaged in an explosion caused by limpet mines on the hull of the ship.

The ship allegedly involved in the incident is the Saviz, an Iranian vessel that was in the Red Sea to support Iranian commandos escorting commercial vessels, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news. The Savis has been stationed in recent years in the Red Sea, according to Tasnim.

The vessel reportedly showed up on independent ship tracking site MarineTraffic at about 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday before dropping off the map again at 9:44 a.m., according to social media reports.

The alleged incident, if true, comes after two strikes on Israeli vessels in the region and reports of dozens of earlier strikes carried out by Israel and Iran on each other's maritime vessels in locations ranging from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.

Late last month, an Iranian missile was reportedly fired at an Israeli ship between India and Oman, striking and damaging the ship. In February, Iran allegedly attacked the Israeli-owned cargo vessel MV Helios Ray, which was damaged by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman.