• Turkish court orders release of 10 retired admirals who signed Motreux convention letter
• Russian-Ukrainian war: Tragedy for people, chance for elites
• Ukraine claims Russia ignoring call for crunch talks to avert all-out war in Donbass, but Moscow says it never received an invite

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not have had the authority to approve the sabotage attack against Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, former Israeli Defence Force Head of Military Intelligence Amos Yadlin has said.

"Sensitive operational actions with political and security implications involving potential escalation must be approved by the government. The cabinet can authorise the security cabinet to decide, and the security cabinet can authorise the prime minister and the defence minister. These processes did not happen, and the decisions were made while excluding all the decision-making bodies. Knesset oversight has not existed for a long time," Yadlin wrote in a multi-part Twitter thread on Tuesday.

© Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post
Former military intelligence head Amos Yadlin

According to the retired military officer, the Natanz attack served to carelessly stoke tensions with the Islamic Republic, without coordinating with Tel Aviv's American allies, and without actually improving Israel's national security situation.

"Over the years that I have participated in discussions...on the approval of Israeli actions in an enemy country, we have been faced with three main considerations: the expected achievement, the enemy's response and the potential for escalation, as well as implications for Israel's relations with its vital ally," Yadlin explained.

"48 hours after the explosion at Natanz, it has become clear that the attack did not result in the end of Iran's nuclear programme," the former official continued, adding that in the wake of media reporting on Israeli involvement in the sabotage, including "irresponsible leaks" from inside Israel, Tel Aviv should brace for Iranian retaliation. He added, however, that this response would be "measured," out of a desire on Tehran's part to avoid further escalation.

Of greater concern, Yadlin said, is that the Islamic Republic can now be expected to "take defiant measures" in the nuclear field, expanding enrichment with advanced centrifuges and reducing international supervision of its nuclear programme. "In the context of the negotiations, it is likely that Iran will harden its positions or even strengthen the hand of the Revolutionary Guards who have called on Iran not to return to the 2015 nuclear deal."

The officer also warned that even if Israel informed the US ahead of time about its plans to sabotage Natanz, the timing was "not conducive to building trust" with the Biden administration, trust which he said is "essential to coordinating positions and safeguarding Israel's interests."

Netanyahu, Yadlin alleged, probably does not have an up-to-date strategy for conducting its Iran sabotage campaign in the Biden era, "and without a doubt, in the shadow of the political crisis [facing Israel], the essential discussions have not taken place."

"Even taking a cautious view, it is doubtful whether we are not witnessing a political timing that influences the initiation of a security crisis with the goal of making it easier for Netanyahu to form another government. These are not the considerations that should inform such fateful decisions," the officer concluded.

"The Israeli ship was targeted at the Emirati port of Fujairah," the agency tweeted, adding that the number of the Israeli ship that was targeted is 9690559, it is called Hyperion, and it belongs to the Israeli PCC company which transports cars.

Israel has blamed the attack on Iran, Israeli Channel 12 reported, citing unnamed ​officials.

No casualties have been reported following the incident, the channel added. The attack was likely carried out with a missile or a drone, the Jerusalem Post reported, adding that the ship only suffered light damage.

The Hyperion is linked to the Israeli Ray Shipping company, which owned a vessel hit by an alleged Iranian attack on 28 February. An Israeli-owned ship was targeted in the Gulf of Oman while en route to Dubai - Prime Minister Netanyahu blamed the explosion on Iran, while Tehran rejected the accusations as "groundless."

Tuesday's attack comes amid spiralling tensions between Iran and Israel following the sabotage attack at the Natanz nuclear facility on Sunday, which disrupted the site's power grid. Tehran called the incident an "act of nuclear terrorism", while some Israeli and US media suggested that it was the results of a "classified Israeli operation."

• Russian-Ukrainian war: Tragedy for people, chance for elites
• Ukraine claims Russia ignoring call for crunch talks to avert all-out war in Donbass, but Moscow says it never received an invite
• Full-scale Ukrainian war would threaten Russian security, Kremlin pledges action to prevent 'humanitarian catastrophe - US war ships set sail for Black Sea

Outgoing president, Lenin Moreno, didn't run this time. His popularity dropped to single digits amid criticism that his benefits-slashing neoliberal policies and underwhelming response to the pandemic took a heavy toll on the poor.

Lasso, a career banker, promised to offset the economic damage done under Moreno by doing a better job in attracting foreign investment and creating jobs in a more open economy, as well as heavily investing in agriculture.

Whether he can do this remains to be seen. In 1999, he had a short stint as 'Super Minister' of the Economy under the government of Jorge Jamil Mahuad. That time was marked by significant economic turmoil and forced Ecuador to adopt the US dollar as its national currency, gaining stability in exchange for weakening the central bank's ability to conduct monetary policy.

Arauz offered a return to the times of his former boss, President Correa, whose decade in power brought forth a number of successful social programs to reduce poverty and otherwise help the poor.

Arauz's plan to alleviate the Covid-19 economic slowdown was to distribute $1,000 checks to a million poor families. He also wanted to overhaul a $6.5 billion loan that the Moreno government took from the International Monetary Fund. Lasso pledged not to disavow the financial agreement.

Lasso's surprise win came amid a massive protest campaign by the third-place candidate, Yaku Perez. A self-styled indigenous eco-activist and socialist, he was nevertheless highly critical of Correa and his preferred candidate. After the narrow defeat in the first round, he claimed that his spot in the run-off election was stolen from him through voter fraud. He called on supporters to protest this by spoiling ballots, and was apparently quite successful in his campaign.

According to the National Electoral Council data, 1.7 million ballots were nullified. The country has a mandatory universal voting system and roughly 13 million registered voters, of which 10 million fulfilled their civic duty on Sunday.

Critics call Perez a spoiler candidate, propped up to torpedo Arauz's candidacy by splitting the vote of the left. Notably, he endorsed Lasso for president in 2017, when the banker was running against Moreno, the incumbent leader of Ecuador. Moreno himself was a Correa-backed candidate at the time and was expected to govern as a leftist, but made a U-turn after taking power.

• Jordan's Queen Noor calls coup plot allegations 'wicked slander'
• Jordan bans media coverage of royal feud - state news agency
• Businessman who offered to fly Prince Hamzah out of Jordan is ex-Mossad agent, reports claim