Iran rejects ‘baseless’ G7 accusations of attack on Mercer Street tanker

Tehran [Iran], August 7 (ANI): Iran on Saturday rejected as “baseless” allegations by G7 foreign ministers that it was behind a deadly drone attack on a tanker off Oman last week.

“We strongly condemn the baseless statement by the foreign ministers of the G7 and the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs in which they have directed baseless accusations at the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Times of Israel reported, citing the statement of foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.

The daily further reported that Tehran has strongly denied having any link to the July 29 attack on the MT Mercer Street, an oil products tanker managed by a firm owned by an Israeli billionaire, but has faced an increasing wave of accusations in recent days from Israel, the US and Britain, as well as other countries.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman discussed a shared concern about the attack on the oil tanker during a meeting with Israeli National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata and Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Shimrit Meir, Sputnik reported.

Sputnik further continues to report that, Mercer Street, a Japanese-owned vessel with alleged links to an Israeli billionaire, was attacked off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea last Thursday. The attack resulted in the deaths of two crew members, one from Romania and the other from the UK.

Several countries including the US and UK have attributed responsibility for the attack to Iran, although Tehran denies any involvement. Both the EU and NATO have both condemned the attack, and the UN has called upon countries to avoid taking any actions that may escalate the situation, as per the Russian News Agency. (ANI)