Israel’s key allies, the US and UK, joined it on Sunday in blaming Iran for a deadly tanker attack off Oman, despite Tehran’s denials, and Washington vowed an “appropriate response.”
The US and UK statements came after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that there was “evidence” linking Iran to the attack after Tehran rejected its archfoe’s “baseless accusations.”
The MT Mercer Street, managed by prominent Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, was attacked off Oman on Thursday last week.
Photo: Reuters
A British security guard and a Romanian crew member were killed in what the US, the UK and the vessel’s operator, Zodiac Maritime, said appeared to be a drone strike.
Israel had blamed Iran, with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid on Friday last week saying that he had ordered the nation’s diplomats to push for UN action against “Iranian terrorism.”
Tehran on Sunday denied involvement, with Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh saying that Israel “must stop such baseless accusations.”
“Iran will not hesitate for a moment to defend its ... interests and national security,” he told journalists.
Shortly afterward, Bennett accused Iran of “trying to evade responsibility for the event” in a “cowardly manner.”
“I determine, with absolute certainty, that Iran carried out the attack against the ship,” Bennett said. “The intelligence evidence for this exists and we expect the international community will make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a serious mistake. In any case, we know how to send a message to Iran in our own way.”
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Raab said London believed that the attack was “deliberate, targeted and a clear violation of international law by Iran,” and “UK assessments” showed Iran used “one or more UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles]” to target the tanker.
“Iran must end such attacks, and vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law,” Raab said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “confident that Iran conducted this attack,” and said that an “appropriate response” was forthcoming.
Lapid later on Sunday said that he had spoken with Blinken and Raab, and that he was “pleased” both had “condemned these terrorist acts.”
“Israel will continue to hold conversations with our allies around the world and work together to formulate the necessary steps to combat ongoing Iranian terror,” Lapid said in a statement.
Israel’s chief of staff has spoken to his British counterpart about “recent events in the region and common challenges faced by both countries,” the statement said.
Maritime analysts Dryad Global said that the attack was the fifth against a ship connected to Israel since February.
The tanker was traveling from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates with no cargo aboard when it was hit, Zodiac Maritime said.
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