(TJVNEWS.COM)The late night Thursday attack of an Israeli-managed vessel in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman which left two international crew members dead was the result of a drone strike, the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet has said in a Saturday statement.
“Israel’s foreign minister said he has ordered the nation’s diplomats to push for UN action against Iran over a deadly attack on a ship managed by an Israeli billionaire,” AFP reports. “I’ve instructed the embassies in Washington, London and the UN to work with their interlocutors in government and the relevant delegations in the UN headquarters in New York,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement.
The US Navy had boarded and assisted in the distressed Liberian-flagged ‘Mercer Street’ tanker’s moving to safer waters on Friday after the incident which had initially been reported as possible piracy. The US military had immediately conducted an investigation in the aftermaath, and is now citing “clear visual evidence that an attack had occurred,” according to the new statement.
“Initial indications clearly point to a (drone)-style attack,” the US Navy said, without naming specific evidence for that conclusion. Currently a pair of US warships, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher, are escorting the Mercer to a safe port.
State media in Iran appearing to confirm that it was carried out by the Islamic Republic as “retaliation” for recent Israeli attacks and sabotage operations, including the latest airstrikes on Iran-backed targets inside Syria.
US officials are also pointing the finger at Iran, reports CNN: “A US defense official familiar with the details of the incident said Friday that the tanker was attacked by an armed drone thought to be operated by Iran.”
