FILE – In this Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021 file photo, tar is stuck on rocks after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea, at Tel-Dor Nature Reserve, in Nahsholim, Israel. Israeli authorities said they believed a tanker suspected of smuggling oil from Iran to Syria was responsible for spilling tons of crude into the Mediterranean last month, causing one of Israel’s worst environmental disasters. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
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UPDATED 8:41 AM PT – Thursday, March 4, 2021
Israeli officials are blaming Iran for a major oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea.
“We have located the crude oil tanker, which has polluted the Israeli shore line,” announced Gila Gamliel, Israeli Environmental Protection Minister. “It is owned by a Libyan company and was carrying a cargo from Iran to Syria.”
Israel highlighted the issue of illegal oil shipments from Iran to regimes around the world while noting this activity poses an environmental threat as well. Officials said the Iranian tanker was traveling without radio contact, which endangers other vessels on the high seas.
“This is environmental terror, we have succeeded in identifying who polluted our shores and we will bring them to justice,” stated Minister Gamliel. “We will sue for compensation in the name of all citizens of Israel for damage to the health, the nature, and the floral and the fauna.”
PM Netanyahu: “This was a major ecological disaster in which a thousand tons of petroleum and tar were piled up on our beaches. We must act quickly, before it sinks into the ground, especially in rocky areas and this would be damage that would be with us for many years.
— PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 23, 2021
Officials also highlighted Iran’s nuclear program and its support for regional terror groups, adding to this latest environmental threat against the Jewish State.
FILE – In this Monday, Feb. 22, 2021 file photo, Israeli soldiers wearing protective suits clean tar from a beach after an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea in Sharon Beach Nature Reserve, near Gaash, Israel. Israeli authorities said they believed a tanker suspected of smuggling oil from Iran to Syria was responsible for spilling tons of crude into the Mediterranean last month, causing one of Israel’s worst environmental disasters. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
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