Iran Denies Attacking Japanese Tanker Ships In The Indian Ocean

Illustration - tanker (Between)

JAKARTA - Iran on Monday denied that it attacked a Japanese-owned commercial tanker in the Indian Ocean on weekends, with a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry calling the US government's accusations "baseless."

The US Department of Defense, Pentagon, said the Liberian-flagged chemical vessel operated by the Netherlands was attacked about 370 kilometers offshore of India "with a one-way drone strike fired from Iran."

The Wall Street Journal reported, as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, the ship is linked to an Israeli billionaire named Idan Ofer.

Iran supports the Palestinian Hamas struggle group, which has been involved in the war with Israel since October 7, and pro-Iran Houthi rebels in Yemen, which have repeatedly attacked commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

An Iranian elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander threatened to close other sea cruise routes if Israel continued its ground attack on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Israel's ambassador to India denounced Iran's actions, saying in a post on platform X, Sunday (24/12), that "the attack Iran initiated against international shipping should come as no surprise."

The tanker, carrying 20 Indians and a Vietnamese, left Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and headed to Mangalore, southwest of India, according to the US Department of Defense and Indian Coast Guard.

There were no reports of casualties, they said. After the attack, the ship decided to head to Mumbai for repairs and assessed the damage with the help of the Indian Coast Guard.