Israel blames Iran for fatal drone strike on oil tanker after Tehran denies responsibility
By Kareem Fahim and Shira Rubin,
Johan Victor AP
ISTANBUL — Israel’s prime minister on Sunday accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack last week on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea that killed two crew members, raising fears of an escalating maritime war in the Middle East as Tehran denied any responsibility for the strike.
American and Israeli officials had previously said that Thursday’s attack on the Liberian-flagged Mercer Street bore the hallmarks of an operation by Iran, which has been accused of deploying attack drones in the past. The Mercer Street is managed by Zodiac Maritime, a London-based company owned by an Israeli billionaire.
On Sunday, Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said he “condemned” allegations linking Tehran to the attack and called on Israel to “stop spreading accusations,” according to the semiofficial Iranian Students’ News Agency. Later, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, speaking at a cabinet meeting, directly accused Iran of responsibility.
[Attack on oil tanker off the coast of Oman kills two crew members]
“I have now heard that Iran, in a cowardly manner, is trying to evade its responsibility for the incident and are denying it. So I’m stating here, absolutely, that Iran is the one that carried out the attack against the ship,” he said. The strike aimed to hit an Israeli target, Bennett said, adding that “intelligence evidence exists” tying Iran to the attack, though he did not present any.
Hostilities over the past two years between Israel and Iran have frequently played out at sea, in tit-for-tat attacks on oil tankers, private commercial vessels and warships — a conflict often referred to as part of a “shadow war” that feels increasingly overt. The strike on the Mercer, off the coast of Oman, marked a significant escalation and was the first time fatalities had resulted from one of the recent attacks.
In their comments Sunday, both Khatibzadeh and Bennett hinted at further retaliatory action.
“This regime has brought insecurity, terror and fear wherever it has gone,” Khatibzadeh said, referring to Israel. “Whoever sows the wind reaps the storm.”
Bennett said Israel expected the international community to “make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a grave mistake.”
“We, in any case, know how to convey the message to Iran in our own ways,” he added.
The hostilities have raised fears about the safety of passage in the waterways around the Middle East and cast a shadow over ongoing negotiations between Iran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal from which the United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew three years ago. Israel opposes the deal.
[Iran will not return to nuclear talks before new government is formed in Tehran]
One of the crew members killed on the Mercer Street was from Romania, and the other was British, according to Zodiac Maritime, which did not identify them. A spokesman for Ambrey, a private British maritime security company, said in an emailed statement that one of the victims was a member of the company’s team and the other was a member of the crew.
In a statement Saturday, U.S. Central Command said that American naval forces had responded to the vessel after receiving an emergency distress call and that initial indications “clearly point to a UAV-style attack,” referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.
After the strike, the Mercer Street was escorted by the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier, and the USS Mitscher, a guided missile destroyer. Naval explosive experts were aboard “to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew,” the statement said.
Rubin reported from Tel Aviv. Dan Lamothe in Washington contributed to this report.
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