Iranian weapons convoy sunk?

Ha’aretz reports that an Iranian vessel of arms destined for Gaza mysteriously sunk just as it attempted to dock and transfer its cargo.  According to the original report in an Egyptian newspaper, the ship got attacked by either Israeli or American naval forces, continuing an effort to interdict the flow of weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah (via Report on Arrakis):

An Iranian vessel laden with weapons bound for the Gaza Strip was torpedoed off the coast of Sudan last week, allegedly by Israeli or American forces operating in the area, the Egyptian newspaper El-Aosboa reported on Sunday.

Anonymous sources in Khartoum told the newspaper that an unidentified warship bombed the Iranian vessel as it prepared to dock on Sudan before transferring its load for shipment to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

These sources said they suspects U.S. or Israeli involvement in the attack, but neither Washington nor Jerusalem have released a statement yet on the matter.

Considering the original source, this could be just some paranoia by the Egyptian media.  If the munitions exploded on their own or due to a mishandling by the crew, their “anonymous sources” could probably trace the conspiracy back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and provide org charts to show it.  If it rains, Israel wants to flood them; if it doesn’t rain, the Jews caused a drought.

Of course, it would be an encouraging sign if this were actually true.  Israel and the US have demanded international cooperation on stopping arms shipments to Gaza for years, to no avail.  If we’ve moved beyond pleading to actual covert interdiction, then great.  It won’t halt them altogether, as Iran will just throw more resources at the problem, in the same manner as Mexican drug cartels getting shipments across the border through the shotgun process.  However, it will raise their costs, and eventually the Iranians may run out of mules.

If anyone’s doing this, I’ll bet on the Israelis over the US, especially given the new administrations in both countries.

Update: Yeah, yeah, I know that a convoy refers to multiple ships, but a blogger can hope, can’t he?

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