Watch: Iranian troops attack a ship linked to Israel from a helicopter

Herzliya on Saturday morning, the mood was optimistic. Photo: Yotam Confino

On the streets of Tehran, people were more worried.

“I don’t know who is to blame and who is not, but it is better to reach a compromise so that war does not start and innocent people do not die,” Maryam, a 43-year-old private sector worker told AFP.< /p>

«God willing, our government will prioritize reason over emotion,» added Salehi, a 75-year-old retired civil servant.

< p>Some believe Tehran will respond with force to the Israeli attack at his embassy.

“War is always bad and worrying… but sometimes war is necessary to achieve peace,” said Ehsan, a 43-year-old man. university professor.

Iranian reformist newspaper Sharg wrote on Saturday that «the longer Tehran's response is delayed, the more it has negative consequences for the country's economy and increases public concern.»

It is too early to say for sure whether Saturday's The seizure of the vessel is Iran's last word in a standoff that has brought the entire region to a standstill.

The tactic is not new

Attacking ships in the Persian Sea The Persian Gulf region is nothing new for the IRGC, which has repeatedly harassed and attacked ships allegedly associated with Israel.

He is suspected of hijacking Asphalt Princess in August 2021, as well as Advantage Sweet in April. 2023 and Niovi a month later. The Advantage Sweet hijacking, like the last hijacking, involved a helicopter.

Security firm Ambrey said it «observed footage of at least three people quickly moving from the helicopter onto what appears to be a container ship.»

The IRGC “previously used this boarding method to seize ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” Embry added.

For this reason, the seizure of the MSC Aries is unlikely to be considered a full-scale Iranian retaliation, experts say.

This could be just the first part of a multi-pronged, unconventional attack by Iran — or the leadership may have abandoned its vaunted plans for a large-scale missile attack entirely.

Iranian leaders prefer to avoid direct action in their shadow conflict with Israel. They tend to rely on asymmetrical, covert attacks using their vast network of proxies in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Despite this, Iranian regime officials appear to be very pleased with the concern caused by the lack of a single missile launch .

“This psychological, media and political war is more terrible for them than the war itself because they are expecting an attack every night, and many of them have fled and taken refuge in shelters,” said Yahya Rahim Safavi, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader. .

Experts who closely follow Iran suggest that this may be the true purpose of the recent crisis: waging psychological warfare against Israel to undermine morale and perhaps lay the groundwork for a security failure in Israel. near future.