Mercer Road, an Israeli-managed oil tanker that was attacked is seen off Fujairah Port in UAE
Dubai:
Iran on Saturday rejected as psychological warfare accusations that it was behind a lethal assault on a tanker off Oman’s coast, and stated Tehran sought to reinforce the safety of the strategic Gulf waterway.
Overseas ministers from the Group of Seven rich economies stated on Friday Iran was threatening worldwide peace and safety and that every one out there proof confirmed it was behind the assault on the Mercer Road tanker final week.
“If we had been to confront enemies… we’d declare it brazenly, so the current storytelling by the enemies is a psychological operation,” state media quoted Abolfazl Shekarchi, Iran’s senior armed forces spokesman, as saying.
The vessel was a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.
Tehran has denied any involvement within the suspected drone assault through which two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian – had been killed close to the mouth of the Gulf, a key oil delivery route.
“Opposite to the technique of america, Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel), which purpose to create insecurity …and Iranophobia, Iran’s technique is to strengthen safety within the Persian Gulf,” Shekarchi stated.
The U.S. navy stated explosives consultants from the Ronald Reagan plane provider – which deployed to help the Mercer Road – concluded the drone was produced in Iran.
However Shekarchi stated: “The People say they recovered components of Iranian drones from the water….however through which laboratory was this proof recognized as belonging to Iran?,” the Iranian state information company IRNA reported.
“Making ready solid proof just isn’t a troublesome job because the Zionists excel at getting ready solid paperwork,” Shekarchi stated, suggesting Israel might have been behind the assault.
Regardless of Iran’s denials, Britain, america and others have criticised Tehran for the assault. Britain raised the difficulty at a closed-door assembly of the United Nations Safety Council on Friday.
Iran’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Zahra Ershadi rejected the accusations that Tehran was behind the assault and warned in opposition to any retaliation: “Iran won’t hesitate to defend itself and safe its nationwide pursuits.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)