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RFL/RE – Iran has rejected Israel’s allegation that Tehran was behind an attack last week on an Israeli-managed oil tanker off the coast of Oman that killed two people, a Briton and a Romanian.
The July 27 incident that damaged the Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned Mercer Street tanker was the first fatal attack on commercial shipping in the region explicitly linked by foreign leaders to heightened tensions with Iran in recent years.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Khatibzadeh told a weekly press conference on August 1 that Israel “has created insecurity, terror, and violence” and said “these accusations about Iran’s involvement are condemned by Tehran.”
Khatibzadeh added: “Such accusations are meant by Israel to divert attention from facts and are baseless.”
Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of “trying to shirk responsibility” for the incident and said Tehran’s denials were “cowardly.”
The U.S. Navy said on July 31 that a “drone strike” had targeted the Mercer Street and that its USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher were escorting the damaged tanker to a safe port.
The Mercer Street is managed by London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.
“U.S. Navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack. Initial indications clearly point to a UAV-style attack,” the U.S. Navy said, using the acronym for an unmanned aerial vehicle.
“Upon arrival, U.S. forces determined through clear visual evidence that an attack had occurred,” the statement added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid had already blamed Iran, describing its regional foe as an “exporter of terrorism, destruction, and instability that harms us all.”
Lapid said he had ordered the nation’s diplomats to push for UN action against “Iranian terrorism.”
“I’ve instructed the embassies in Washington, London, and the UN to work with their interlocutors in government and the relevant delegations in the UN headquarters in New York,” Lapid said on Twitter.
Lapid spoke with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on July 31.
“They agreed to work with the United Kingdom, Romania, and other international partners to investigate the facts, provide support, and consider the appropriate next steps,” the State Department said.
Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of a top nuclear scientist last year and a series of attacks on its nuclear facilities.
And Al Alam TV, the Iranian government’s Arabic-language television network, cited unidentified sources as saying the attack was in response to a suspected, unspecified Israeli attack on an airport in Syria.
Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Iranian targets in Syria as part of a shadow war between the regional foes. In recent months, vessels linked to each nation have been mysteriously targeted in waters around the Middle East.
Tensions have risen in the Persian Gulf since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.
