The United States and the United Kingdom united with their G7 allies and the United Nations on Friday to accuse Tehran of being responsible for the deadly attack on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea, with the publication of photos of the trapped drone manufactured, according to the US military, in Iran.
Read also: Escalation between Israel and Iran in the Arabian Sea
"All the available evidence clearly points to Iran,"
the major powers of the G7 said in a joint statement, denouncing a
"deliberate and targeted attack"
without
"any justification"
.
"Iran's behavior, as well as its support for forces acting as a relay and for armed non-state actors, threatens international peace and security
,
"
insisted the foreign ministers of the United States, the Kingdom United, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan with the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Washington and its European allies on the UN Security Council reiterated the same accusations at a closed-door meeting in New York, British Ambassador Barbara Woodward told reporters.
"The United Kingdom informed the Council of the evidence we have"
,
"and the evidence is clear: the UK knows that Iran is responsible for this attack,"
Has she said.
The Security Council will meet on Monday morning for a public debate on
“maritime security”
following the attack.
Threat of retaliation
On July 29, the MT Mercer Street, an oil tanker run by a company owned by an Israeli billionaire, was the target of an attack off the coast of Oman, which resulted in the death of a British security guard and 'a Romanian crew member. The United States, the United Kingdom and Israel had very quickly pointed the finger at Iran, which denied any involvement, amid recurring tensions, attacks and serial sabotage in the waters of the region.
In support of the charges on Friday, the US Army's Central Military Command (Centcom) released the results of its investigation. According to his statement, two trapped drones first missed their target, before a third,
"loaded with explosives for military use"
, came crashing down on MT Mercer Street. American experts
"were able to recover several pieces of this third drone"
and
"concluded, on the basis of evidence"
, that it
"had been manufactured in Iran"
, he added, posting several photos. Centcom also believes that
"the distance between the Iranian coast and the site"
is consistent with the range of previous drone attacks attributed to Tehran.
As of last week, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken had promised a
"collective response"
, without specifying whether it would take the form of sanctions or military reprisals.
The Hebrew state also said it was working on a response, and called on the international community to take strong action.
But for now, despite intense diplomatic exchanges, these threats have yet to materialize.
In a new telephone conversation on Friday, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz
"condemned Iran's aggression which undermines freedom of navigation and discussed the next steps"
, thus confined themselves to report the Pentagon.
At the UN, the British ambassador assured that
"the door to diplomacy and dialogue"
remained
"open"
.
"But if Iran decides not to take this path, we will hold it responsible and make it pay the consequences,"
she warned. At the end of the Security Council meeting, Tehran again
"categorically rejected"
these
"baseless attacks"
, and warned that Iran would not hesitate
"to defend itself"
in the event of
"adventurism"
by his rivals.
