Western Statements On Mercer Street Vessel Attack Groundless - Iranian Foreign Ministry

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published August 02, 2021 | 07:33 PM

Statements made by the United States and the United Kingdom on Iran's involvement in the attack on the Mercer Street tanker in the Indian Ocean are groundless, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2021) Statements made by the United States and the United Kingdom on Iran's involvement in the attack on the Mercer Street tanker in the Indian Ocean are groundless, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

On Sunday, both UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken alleged that Iran was behind the assault on the ship.

"These accusations are absolutely groundless... All these statements [by the US and the UK] contain contradictory phrases ... First they blame Iran [for the attack] without providing any documents, and then they say that it was possible," Khatibzadeh said, as quoted by the ministry on its Telegram channel.

The spokesman added that Iran will protect its national interests and respond to any scheme against it.

"Unfortunately, while these countries maintain silence about terror attacks, as well as acts of sabotage on Iranian commercial vessels in the Red Sea and international waters, they present false accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran in a politically biased manner," Khatibzadeh continued, urging London and Washington to back their accusation up with evidence.

Last Friday, the Zodiac Maritime operator said that Japanese-owned Mercer Street was attacked off the coast of Oman, adding that the suspected piracy incident left two crew members, citizens of Romania and the UK, dead. Later in the day, the company said the crew took back control of the ship and the US navy was escorting it elsewhere. According to media reports, the vessel could be tied to an Israeli billionaire. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated there was intelligence indicating that Iran was involved in the attack.