US Navy: 'Drone strike' hit Israeli-managed oil tanker off Oman

Iran has rejected Israeli accusations that it was involved in the attack, calling the allegations "baseless" and an attempt by Israel to "divert attention from facts".

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5 board an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter in response to a call for assistance from the Mercer Street, July 30, 2021.
Reuters

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5 board an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter in response to a call for assistance from the Mercer Street, July 30, 2021.

US Navy explosive experts believe a “drone strike” targeted an oil tanker that came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, killing two on board, the American military has said.

The strike on Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street marks the first-known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran over its tattered nuclear deal. 

While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Israeli officials alleged Tehran launched the drone strike.

Iran said it was not involved in the attack, calling the accusations "baseless" and an attempt by Israel to "divert attention from facts".

"The Zionist regime (Israel) has created insecurity, terror and violence...These accusations about Iran's involvement are condemned by Tehran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference streamed online.

The strike comes as Tehran now appears poised to take an even tougher approach with the West as the country prepares to inaugurate a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as president.

READ MORE: Oil tanker linked to Israeli billionaire attacked off Oman, 2 killed

US findings

The American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher were escorting the Mercer Street as it headed to a safe port, the US Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet said in a statement early on Saturday.

“US Navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack,” the 5th Fleet said. “Initial indications clearly point to a (drone)-style attack."

The 5th Fleet statement did not explain how it determined a drone caused the damage, although it described its explosive experts finding “clear visual evidence that an attack had occurred” aboard the Mercer Street. 

The US military's Central Command did not immediately respond to questions on the evidence.

The drone attack blasted a hole through the top of the oil tanker's bridge, where the captain and crew command the vessel, a US official said. 

The official spoke on condition of anonymity as an investigation into the attack still was ongoing.

AP

File photo: Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street off Cape Town, South Africa on January 2, 2016.

Crew member casualties

The Mercer Street is managed by London-based Zodiac Maritime, part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. 

The firm said the attack killed two crew members, one from the United Kingdom and the other from Romania. It did not name them, nor did it describe what happened in the assault. It said it believed no other crew members on board were harmed.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said the attack on Mercer Street had killed one of its team members on board the vessel.

The Mercer Street, empty of cargo, had been on its way from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, at the time of the attack, Zodiac Maritime said. 

The attack targeted the tanker just northeast of the Omani island of Masirah, over 300 kilometres (185 miles) southeast of Oman’s capital, Muscat. Oman's state-run news agency late on Friday described the area as “beyond Omani regional waters” and said its forces responded to the tanker's mayday call.

Zodiac Maritime described the Mercer Street’s owners as Japanese, without naming them. Shipping authority Lloyd’s List identified the vessel’s ultimate owner as Taihei Kaiun Co, which belongs to the Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen Group.

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US, UK and Israel blame Iran

The United States and the United Kingdom joined Israel on Sunday to blame Iran.

Calling it a “unlawful and callous attack,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country and its allies planned a coordinated response over the strike Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon followed, saying there was “no justification fo r this attack, which follows a pattern of attacks and other belligerent behaviour.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said Israel was privy to "evidence" proving Iran was behind the deadly tanker attack off Oman, warning his country could "send a message" in retaliation.

"The intelligence evidence for this exists and we expect the international community will make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a serious mistake," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting in remarks conveyed by his office on Sunday.

"In any case, we know how to send a message to Iran in our own way."

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday. The State Department said the two diplomats “agreed to work with the United Kingdom, Romania and other international partners to investigate the facts, provide support and consider the appropriate next steps.”

Other Israel-linked ships have been targeted in recent months as well amid a shadow war between the two nations, with Israeli officials blaming the Islamic Republic for the assaults.

READ MORE: Israel seeks tough response against Iran after attack on oil tanker

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Heightened tensions

Israel meanwhile has been suspected in a series of major attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Also, Iran saw its largest warship recently sink under mysterious circumstances in the nearby Gulf of Oman.

Thursday’s attack comes amid heightened tensions over Iran’s tattered nuclear deal and as negotiations over restoring the accord have stalled in Vienna. The series of ship attacks suspected to have been carried out by Iran began a year after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018.

The attack on the Mercer Street also came the night after Blinken, speaking from Kuwait, warned Iran that talks in Vienna over the nuclear deal “cannot go on indefinitely.”

This is the second time this month a ship tied to Ofer apparently has been targeted. 

In early July, the Liberian-flagged container ship CSAV Tyndall, once tied to Zodiac Maritime, suffered an unexplained explosion on board while in the northern Indian Ocean, according to the US Maritime Administration.

READ MORE: Israel faces tough questions over mysterious explosions in Iran

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