Israel, US to investigate Iranian regime over Mercer Street merchant ship attack

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke last night with his American counterpart, Antony Blinken, about the recent attack in the Arabian Sea on a ship operated by a company owned by an Israeli billionaire of which he accuses Iran, while demanding the international condemnation of a spokesperson. Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Lapid spoke with Blinken of “the attack on the ship in the Gulf of Oman, the joint activity against Iranian terrorism and the formulation of an international and effective response” against Tehran.said the statement.

As specified, this organization activated diplomatic channels “in all relevant contexts” and in several countries “to promote” an “international condemnation and response” to last Thursday’s aggression against an oil tanker sailing near Oman. The ship, named “Mercer Street” and owned by Japan, is managed by the Israeli company Zodiac Maritime, owned by the Israeli Eyal Ofer.

As State Department spokesman Ned Prince reported in a statement released by the United States, The two leaders said they would work with their partners to also provide support and consider next actions to be taken in connection with the incident.

The attack – carried out by a drone – resulted in the deaths of two crew members, a Romanian citizen and a British citizen, and Israel directly accuses Iran of committing the assault.

In view of this, the highest representative of Israeli diplomacy also reached out to his counterparts in the UK and Romania to express his condolences and discussed “the threat posed by Iran, which constantly causes damage to civilians. innocent ”.

When attacked Thursday evening, the ship was in the northern Indian Ocean en route to the United Arab Emirates.

The incident alarmed the Israeli authorities. According to media reports, senior government officials and the defense apparatus have met urgently to discuss the issue, and are now attempting to put Western countries on high alert to denounce the extent of alleged Iranian activities in the Middle. East.

Israel views Tehran as its main enemy in the region and an existential threat. Since the outbreak of the armed conflict in Syria, it has intermittently bombed positions of Iranian or allied militias supporting Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

In addition, he is fiercely opposed to the 2015 nuclear deal between various powers and Tehran, which the United States is proposing to return to after the withdrawal of former President Donald Trump in 2018.

If it was confirmed that it was an Iranian attack, it would represent a new chapter in hostilities between Israel and Tehran in the area, with multiple attacks and sabotages against cargo ships recorded over the past two years, which have intensified in recent months.

This, however, would be the first time that one of these attacks causes deaths, which could raise the tension.

In Iran, the Arab channel of one of the public television stations quoted “informed sources in the region”, according to which, the attack was a response “to a recent Israeli attack in Syria”, without giving more details.

The Arabian Sea lies between Iran and Oman and there is the strategic strait of Hormuz, through which it passes much of the world’s oil and where a US-led coalition is also present.

Ten years ago, ships sailing in the region were under attack from pirates, but these incidents have declined considerably in recent years, following the intensification of naval patrols in several countries.

With information from the EFE

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