A senior US Department of Defense official claimed on Tuesday that last week’s attack on the Mercer Street ship was of Yemeni origin.
Dana Straw, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, made the claim at a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
Ten days ago, news sources reported that the tanker “Mercer Street”, which is managed by the Israeli company “Zodiac”, was targeted in the Makran Sea. Two crew members were killed during the attack.
In recent days, Israeli, US and British officials have attributed the attack to Iran in a coordinated campaign and have called for a response.
In response to the political atmosphere created by the Zionists and some Western countries, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described the allegations against Tehran about the ship as baseless and strongly condemned it.
“It is noteworthy that this incident took place just a few days before the inauguration of the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a manifestation of the democratic transfer of power in Iran,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed: “The Islamic Republic of Iran is fully committed to securing the strategic waterway of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and considers it a part of its security and remains ready to cooperate with countries in establishing, establishing and ensuring the stability of collective security.” “It is in the region and at the same time it will not hesitate to defend its sovereign rights in this area.”
Dana Strawl also claimed in a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the attack on the ship was “sponsored by Iran.” “This was a one-sided, Iranian-backed attack on the Mercer Street,” he told the meeting.
Strawel’s allegations add to the contradictions in the statements and statements of Western officials about the accusation against Iran. While he claims that the attack was “supported by Iran”, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had said in recent days that he was “confident” that Iran had carried out the attack.
However, the British government, in a different direction from the US government, claimed that “it is very likely” that the attack on Mercer Street was carried out by Iran.
The contradictions came to the attention of Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative to the Vienna International Organization, a few days ago, who wrote on Twitter last week: Severe attack on Mercer Street? US: “We are convinced that Iran carried out this attack.” Britain was a little more cautious, saying: “It is very likely (Iran has done this).”
