An analysis published by Foreign Policy magazine predicts that in the event of a collapse in Lebanon, the "secret conflict" between Iran and Israel in Mediterranean waters will rise to the surface.
The magazine's writer, Anshel Wahra, a TV correspondent and independent commentator on Middle East affairs, referred to the severity of what was happening in Lebanon, and its impact on security in the region, pointing out that the situation in the region was on "hot coals" due to Iran's lack of transparency.
"Earlier this month, an Iranian tweet and an Israeli response caused a storm in the waters of the Mediterranean," he said.
Provocation of tweets
The analysis says that on June 26, the Iranian embassy in Lebanon wrote a "vaguely worded" tweet with a picture of an Iranian ship and said that Tehran "does not need US approval to send fuel to Lebanon."
The Lebanese Ministry of Energy, however, quickly rejected the offer to import Iranian fuel, but before that it was speculated that an Iranian oil tanker was already on its way to the port of Beirut.
Then, on July 6, IntelliNews, a blog on Israel's security and intelligence issues, tweeted that Iran had sent the ship Arman 114 - "Ohrman 114" hoisting an Iranian flag, laden with Iranian crude oil, to Lebanon.
The tweet read: "Hezbollah is carrying out a logistical operation to smuggle Iranian fuel into Lebanon."
This was enough for many analysts to fear an escalation of the now "silent" naval war.
It should be noted that Israel has been very busy building in the last decade a formibidable Naval force.