Iranian Spy Ship MV Behshad Returns Home After 3 Years At Sea After Regional Tensions Escalate

The MV Behshad, a suspected Iranian spy ship, has returned to its home port in Bandar Abbas after three years at sea.

According to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, the vessel left its position near the Yemeni coast on April 4, 2024, and reappeared near the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, 2024.

Iran characterises the MV Behshad as an intelligence and logistics vessel. It is scheduled to arrive at Bandar Abbas port later Thursday.

US analysts and authorities have long suspected the MV Behshad, a cargo ship, of providing information and assistance with targeting the Houthi Rebels in the Red Sea, but Tehran denies any such involvement.

The ship’s return reduces a possible high-profile target for any Israeli strikes as tensions between the two countries rise.

Since June 2021, Behshad’s journey has been continuously tracked. It spent a long period in the Red Sea between Eritrea and Yemen before heading to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

In February, it moored near a Chinese military base in Djibouti and disappeared until early April, when it returned to the Gulf of Oman.

Iranian military officials have repeatedly warned against striking the Behshad, describing it as a “floating armory” and stating any assault towards the vessel would put the international maritime routes’ security at high risk.

The MV Behshad’s return coincides with Iran preparing for possible Israeli retaliation following a recent drone and missile attack on the Jewish state, supposedly in reaction to an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed five officers and two generals in the IRGC.

The United States has accused Iran of extensive involvement in Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

Analysts like Dryad Global and EOS Risk Group have linked the vessel to the Houthi Campaign.

Iran’s state media has not commented on the return of the ship MV Behshad, raising concerns about its future deployment.

The ship MV Behshad replaced another cargo ship, MV Saviz, suspected of being used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps that was tied off the Yemeni coast for years until being damaged by limpet mines in 2021, which Iran claimed had been set off by Israel.

As tensions rise, the United States urges cautiousness to prevent additional regional escalation.

Reference: Bloomberg

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