Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday labelled as “worthless” Washington’s claims that the drone attack on a tanker off the coast of India was “fired from Iran”.
Saturday’s attack on the Japanese-owned chemical tanker came amid a flurry of drone and missile strikes by Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is fighting Hamas. The US then blamed the attack on Tehran. Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said when asked about the US accusations:
We declare these claims as completely rejected and worthless. Such claims are aimed at projecting, distracting public attention, and covering up for the full support of the American government for the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Gaza.
Kanani also described as “repetitive” and “threadbare” recent remarks by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who called Iran a “malign influence in the region and the world” and called for a “deterrence package” against it.
The US, which heads a global task force to counter the Houthi threat, has repeatedly accused Iran of “deep involvement”.
However, Iran insists it does not coordinate with the Houthis and plays no role in the attacks. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the Mehr news agency on Saturday:
The resistance [Houthis] has its own tools … and acts in accordance with its own decisions and capabilities. The fact that certain powers, such as the Americans and the Israelis, suffer strikes from the resistance movement … should in no way call into question the reality of the strength of the resistance in the region.
Amid tensions, Iran’s navy has received long-range cruise missiles as well as reconnaissance helicopters, the country’s state media reported.
An Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected drone attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean last month, according to a US official. The Malta-flagged vessel, operated by an Israeli-affiliated company, was damaged when the drone exploded near it.
Israel has been carrying out regular airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on 7 October that killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. Multiple attacks by the Israeli army have killed more than 20,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry.
