After Allegations Of Attacking Tankers In The Arabian Sea, Iran Is Ready To Respond To Israeli Threats To Britain

Mercer Street tanker. (Twitter/@ItayBlumental)

JAKARTA - Iran will respond to any threat to its security, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-run tanker in the Arabian Sea.

Tehran denies involvement in the alleged drone attack on Thursday last week, in which two crew members, a British and a Romanian national respectively, were killed.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with allies to respond to the attack on Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged Japanese oil products tanker managed by Israel's Zodiac Maritime.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the incident as a "clearly unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping".

"Iran will have to face the consequences of what they have done," PM Johnson told reporters Monday.

Britain summoned Iran's ambassador on Monday. Meanwhile, Iran summoned Britain's Chargé d'Affaires and Romania's main envoy in Tehran over the accusations by the two countries against the Islamic Republic, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said.

"Iran does not hesitate in protecting its national security and interests, will immediately respond to any adventures that may occur," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on television.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Tehran of trying to evade responsibility for the attack, calling his refusal cowardly. Earlier, Israel's foreign minister said on Sunday the incident deserved a strong response.

Separately, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the attack was an intensification of what he called an Iranian escalation and accused Tehran of intent to injure and kill civilians.

"Israel has various tools and options to defend its citizens, and we will resolve the issue with anyone who tries to harm us at a time and place and in a way that suits us and our security," Gantz said before the Israeli Parliament.

An unnamed Iranian official told the Iranian news agency Nournews earlier that Tehran considers the threats of Western officials and the Zionist regime (Israel) to be more of a propaganda gesture.

"Washington and London will be directly responsible for the consequences (threats)," the official told Nournews, which is close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken predicted a 'collective response'. However, he also said he did not think the incident had anything to do with Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi who came to power on Thursday this week.

To note, Iran and Israel have exchanged accusations of carrying out attacks on each other's ships in recent months.

Tensions have risen in the Gulf since the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.