Envoy Rejects Unfounded Allegation of Iran’s Role in Tanker Attack
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations decried the baseless accusation of Tehran’s role in a recent attack on an Israeli-managed ship, warning of suspicious attempts to create artificial maritime ‘incidents’ in the Persian Gulf.
Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, rejecting the “unfounded” accusation leveled by Britain, Liberia and Romania that Iran had been behind the attack on the Israeli tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman without presenting any shred of evidence to substantiate their claims.
“This unfounded claim -which was first raised, for obvious political purposes, by the Israeli regime immediately after the attack- is factually wrong and politically and ethically irresponsible, and accordingly is categorically rejected,” she said.
Ershadi added that Iran has long coasts and numerous port facilities in the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman as well as high maritime shipping capacity and attaches “great importance to the maritime security and freedom of navigation.”
On Tuesday, Britain, Romania and Liberia told the UN Security Council that it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the attack on Liberian-flagged oil tanker, which was managed by Israel, last week.
Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were said to have been killed in the incident.
Ershadi reiterated Iran’s full commitments to its relevant international obligations and said the country has significantly contributed to the promotion of maritime security and freedom of navigation, Press TV reported.
“The deployment -for well over a decade- of Iran’s naval forces to the Indian Ocean and the adjacent areas in support of international efforts in combating piracy therein has repeatedly been acknowledged by the United Nations Secretary-General in his relevant reports and commended by the Security Council in its numerous resolutions,” she stated.
Elsewhere in her letter, Ershadi firmly rejected similar and other baseless claims made by the Israeli regime as the main source of instability and insecurity in the region and beyond for more than seven decades.
She drew attention to the Israeli regime’s systematic violations of international law, including its significant threats to maritime security and freedom of navigation, as well as its long record in conducting complicated false-flag operations in the high seas and key international waterways.
“The Security Council must remain fully vigilant about the security and military adventurism of this regime in such a volatile region as the Middle East, condemn such acts and hold it accountable for all its unlawful and yet highly destabilizing activities,” Ershadi said.
Pointing to the very recent provocative statements by the Israeli regime’s officials threatening to use force in gross violation of the UN Charter, the Iranian envoy emphasized that Tel Aviv must be reminded that it shall bear the consequences of all its “possible adventurism and miscalculations.”
She also warned about such threats from any source and said Iran “will not hesitate to take all necessary measures to vigorously protect its people, defend its sovereignty and secure its national interests.”
