US watching as Iran quietly replaces Red Sea spy ship damaged in April attack
CNN
The US was monitoring Iranian ship movements in the Middle East as Tehran quietly replaced a spy ship in the Red Sea that was damaged in an April attack, two US officials told CNN amid escalating regional tension with Iran and an ongoing maritime shadow conflict between Israel and Iran.
Iran towed the stricken vessel back to port and brought in a similar vessel to gather intelligence in the strategically crucial waterway, the officials said. The Behshad, an Iranian ship registered as a general cargo vessel, left the port of Bandar Abbas in early July, reaching its destination nine days later, according to satellite imagery provided to CNN in a report from ImageSat International, an Israeli satellite and intelligence company, which tracked the ship's journey. The Behshad stopped near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a crucial waterway that controls access to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
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