A Hebrew newspaper has unveiled an Israeli security recommendation that maritime tension in front of Iran should be calmed.

Israeli security officials, headed by the Chief of Staff, General Aviv Kojave, were quoted as recommending, during closed deliberations, that tensions between their country and Iran be calmed at sea.

Israeli officials stressed that it was not good to act strongly at this time against Iran, especially in the period when the new United States Administration developed its policy against Tehran.

It was also stressed that the maritime axis from Asia to Israel was very sensitive, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz region, an area where Iranian reactions have been taking place over the last decade.

In the same vein, the Iranian foreign spokesman, Saeed Khatib Zadeh, said yesterday night that the reports received confirm a subversive attack on an Iranian container ship, in clear violation of international law and the law of the sea.

In response to a question about the attack on an Iranian container ship in the international waters of the Mediterranean Sea, which resulted in the damage to that vessel, Zadeh's fiancé said that there had been reports of a subversive attack on that ship, which was clearly contrary to international law and maritime law.

Zadeh added: All concerned are taking the necessary steps to identify the perpetrators of this act of sabotage and are following the matter very seriously.

The spokesman for the Iranian Shipping Company, Ali Gyathyan, announced that part of the hull of an Iranian container ship (Iran Shahrakard) had been damaged by an explosive device last Wednesday in international Mediterranean waters.

Geathian continued: This ship of the Iranian Shipping and Shipping Company, on its way from Iran to Europe, and after being hit by an explosive device, a small fire broke out at the scene of the explosion, was immediately contained thanks to the efforts of the ship's captain and crew, and none of the crew were injured.