Iran plotted to carry out a terror attack on an Israeli ship as it passed
through Egypt’s Suez Canal, a report in the Egyptian Al-Ahram weekly claimed on
Friday.
According to the report, the Egyptian terror operatives received
instructions and funds from Iranian handlers ahead of the planned
attack.
Egyptian authorities made no official comment on the report by
Saturday night.
The suspects allegedly planned to recruit a third member
to their cell, and were supposed to receive 50 million Egyptian pounds to carry
out the plan.
If confirmed, the plot could strain ties between Iran and
Egypt, which is in the midst of a political transformation.
Islamist
parties control the lower parliament in Cairo, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s
party, which is the largest in parliament, said it may field a candidate for the
presidential elections.
Nevertheless, the ruling military council is
determined to retain some power.
Some members of the new Egyptian
parliament have indicated that they will seek closer ties to Iran. Under former
president Hosni Mubarak’s regime, Cairo viewed Tehran as a hostile, radical
force in the region, and ties between the two country were frozen for
years.
The report on the alleged ship bomb plot comes after a series of
failed attacks on Israeli targets in India, Thailand and Georgia last month, all
of which have been linked to Iran.
On Friday, India’s NDTV news site said
New Delhi requested that Interpol issue Red Corner warrants against four Iranians, one of whom was arrested by Malaysian police at Kuala Lampa
airport.
The New Delhi police chief said earlier this month that a fifth
suspect, an Indian-Muslim journalist with ties to Iran, helped carry out
reconnaissance ahead of the February attack, which seriously injured Tal
Yehoshua Koren, the wife of the Israeli defense attache to
India.
Speaking soon after the attacks, senior security analyst Dr. Ely
Karmon said that had the terrorists succeeded, they could have provoked a strong
Israeli response.
“What amazes me about all of these attempts is the fact
that one successful attack, one Israeli embassy blown up, is a casus belli,” a
Latin phrase meaning a justification for war, said Karmon, of the
Interdisciplinary Center’s Institute for Counter-Terrorism.