Jeddah Port attack divulges Iran’s desperate desire to reassert regional influence

Ahmed Adel

Iran tries to assert its power in the region by all means, one time using unmanned aerial vehicles and other times using bomb-laden boats.

Iran is also keen on sending veiled messages to US President-Elect Joe Biden who expressed interest in resuming negotiations with Iran on its nuclear file in return for its suspension of its negative policies in the region, stopping the supply of its militias in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon with arms and refraining from threatening world energy supplies.

Port of Jeddah

On December 14, an oil tanker anchored at the Port of Jeddah was attacked by a bomb-laden boat. Iran used the attack to flex its muscles as Biden prepares to take over on January 20.

Saudi Arabia described the attack as a terrorist one. It pointed fingers of accusation at Iran and the Houthi militia in Yemen, which is allied to Tehran.

Oil tankers’ war

The Port of Jeddah attack brings to mind what was known as the “oil tankers’ war” which took place during the Iran-Iraq war.

Iran and Iraq kept attacking each others’ oil tankers in their regional waters.

The company owning the oil tanker attacked at the Port of Jeddah said it was attacked by an outside force while it unloaded its contents.

The attack caused fire to break out in the tanker, the company said.

Biden in mind

Observers believe that the latest attacks aim at pushing Biden and his advisors to reconsider Iran’s regional weight.

They also aim at inducing the president-elect from allowing Israel to undermine Iran’s regional influence, they say.