Israeli Prime Minister Blames Iran for Tanker Attack; Tehran Denies – By Jon Gambrell (Associated Press) / August 1 2021
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel’s prime minister Sunday directly blamed Iran for a drone attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman that killed two people, making a veiled threat to retaliate as Tehran denied being involved in the assault.
The comments by Premier Naftali Bennett and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh come after the strike Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street. The attack marked the first-known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran over its tattered nuclear deal.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran and its militia allies have used so-called “suicide” drones in attacks previously.
“The Iranians who attacked with unmanned aircraft the Mercer Street intended to harm an Israeli target,” Bennett said at the start of Israel’s weekly Cabinet meeting. “Instead, their piratical act caused the deaths of a British citizen and a Romanian citizen.”
