TEL AVIV — Officially, Israel has maintained complete silence over the unexplained blast that killed at least 46 people and injured more than 1200 at the Shahid Rajaee Port, Iran’s largest commercial shipping facility. 

Speaking off the record, officials in Israel have firmly denied Israeli involvement in the explosion.

"For the first time, the silence and denial by the Israelis are not due to fear of Iran, which has lost most of its deterrence capabilities vis-a-vis Israel, but mainly vis-a-vis the Americans,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. "We must not be seen as trying to torpedo the negotiations that Trump is conducting with the Iranians. It could turn against us and cause enormous damage, especially since we really have nothing to do with this explosion."

The temptation to blame Israel for the explosion at its arch enemy’s strategic port is great, but at this stage there is no evidence to back it up. Although Iranian member of parliament Mohammed Seraj accused Israel of being behind the blast, Iranian government officials have attributed it to safety flaws.