Iran rejects US accusation of attacking tanker in Indian Ocean
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Tehran (Uttam Hindu News): Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani on Monday rejected US allegations that an Iranian drone attacked a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean.
He made the remarks at a press conference in Tehran, reacting to Saturday’s statement by the US Defense Department, Xinhua news agency reported. Earlier, America had claimed that the motor ship CHEM Pluto was attacked by a drone fired from Iran.
“The US allegations are endless,” Kanani said, dismissing them as “useless” and saying they were aimed at “distorting global public opinion and hiding the US government’s full support for Israeli attacks in Gaza.”
Kanani said Iran has always been part of efforts to ensure the safety of maritime transportation and trade through international waters and has acted responsibly towards that objective.
The chemical tanker was attacked at about 10 a.m. local time on Saturday in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles off the coast of India, according to a US Defense Department statement. “There were no casualties in the attack and the fire in the tanker has been extinguished,” the statement said.
In past weeks, several commercial ships were reportedly targeted in the Red Sea by the Yemen-based Houthi group, which said its missile and drone attacks were launched as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian people. US and British officials have accused Iran “of being behind the attacks”, which Iran has strongly rejected as “baseless”.
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