Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh warned Israel against any “foolish move,” saying that Iran will decisively respond to any such move.

“In another brazen violation of Int’l law, Israeli regime now blatantly threatens Iran with military action. Such malign behavior stems from blind Western support,” Khatibzadeh said on Twitter. “We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response. Don’t test us.”

He was responding to a threat issued by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz against Iran. Gantz said Israel is ready to take military action against Iran. The remarks came amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel over a mysterious attack on an Israeli-operated oil tanker off the coast of Oman nearly nine days ago.

The Israeli-operated ship Mercer Street was attacked off the coast of Oman on July 29 while traveling from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah. The oil tanker, managed by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime, was reportedly attacked by suicide drones. Zodiac Maritime said two crewmen, a British and Romanian national, died in the attack.

“With profound sadness, we understand the incident onboard the M/T Mercer Street on 29 July, 2021 has resulted in the deaths of two crew members on board,” the UK-based Israeli company said in a statement on Friday afternoon, a day after the attack.

Israel, the U.S. and the UK blamed Iran for the attack without presenting any evidence to support their accusations.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed that Tel Aviv knows with certainty Iran attacked the Mercer Street ship and will respond to it.

“I determine, with absolute certainty – Iran carried out the attack against the ship,” Bennett stated, according to the Jerusalem Post. “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 noted, “In any case, we know how to send a message to Iran in our own way.”

The UK also followed suit. “We believe this attack was deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law by Iran. UK assessments have concluded that it is highly likely that Iran attacked the MV Mercer Street in international waters off Oman on 29 July using one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” said a UK statement last week. “The UK is working with our international partners on a concerted response to this unacceptable attack.”

Iran said it was not behind the attack on the Israeli ship. Khatibzadeh has responded to allegations by U.S. and UK top diplomats against Iran about last week’s attack on an Israeli oil tanker off the coast of Oman.

Khatibzadeh said the statements issued by U.S. and UK top diplomats contain “contradictory” claims and “provocative and false accusations.” He condemned these statements and called them “deeply regrettable.”

“Such coordinated statements (from Britain and the U.S.) include contradictory phrases per se, in a way that they first level accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran without providing any evidence and document and then talk about the ‘possibility’ of this,” Khatibzadeh said.

The spokesman described Iran as an advocate and supporter of the safe navigation of ships in the Persian Gulf and international waters, and said as a country that has the longest sea borders in the Persian Gulf, Iran is always prepared for cooperation with regional countries to ensure maritime security.

He also noted that Iran considers the presence and interference of the extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf waters and its littoral states to be harmful to the region’s stability and security.

“It is a pity that these countries (the U.S. and Britain) have remained supportively silent about the terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage against Iranian trade vessels in the Red Sea and international waters, but have raised bogus allegations against Iran with political bias in a brazen manner. If these countries have any evidence for their bogus claims, they should present them,” he added.

In a tweet on Monday, the spokesman warned, “As guarantor of Persian Gulf security, Iran strongly condemns provocative & orchestrated UK/US statements. Having kept silent abt REPEATED terrorist attacks on IRANIAN ships, they now baselessly accuse IRAN. Any anti-Iran adventurism will receive IMMEDIATE & DECISIVE response.”

In the midst of the kerfuffle over Mercer Street, several Western media outlets alleged that a number of commercial ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates were harassed by allegedly Iranian forces. Iran strongly denied any involvement and even said there were no incidents taking place in the Gulf of Oman, where the alleged harassment reported happened.

The Iranian embassy in the UK even warned of an unfair game intended to mislead the public. “According to our direct links in the Persian Gulf region, no information on new incidents for any merchant ship in the region is confirmed so far. Misleading the public all around the world for diplomatic gain in New York is not fair game,” the embassy said on Twitter.

Allegations propagated by Western media were dismissed by Iranian officials as a prelude to new adventurism by the West against Iran. The senior spokesman for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, denounced the Western press reports about the alleged incidents in the Gulf of Oman as “psych ops” and an effort to pave the way for new adventurism against Iran.

“Conflicting reports by Western, Zionist, and Saudi media about any maritime insecurity and hijacking of vessels in the region’s waters are sort of psych ops and a prelude to new adventurism,” the Iranian general said. “The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while supporting passage of commercial ships, are well-prepared and have full intelligence surveillance over any suspicious moves.”

The continuation of Western reports prompted Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Major General Hossein Salami to issue a stark warning against any provocation.

He called on the enemies to abandon wrong moves and plots and avoid challenging Iran, saying that, otherwise, they would receive a crushing response that would make them regret their moves.

Tensions between Israel and Iran came against a backdrop of ambiguity over the fate of the Vienna nuclear talks between Iran and the West. The talks have been put on hold since more than a month ago with no resumption date in sight.

The post ‘Don’t test us:’ Iran responds to Israeli threat of military action appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In remarks to the Financial Times, the Iranian ambassador cautioned that an escalation “doesn’t help anybody.” He told the British paper that London’s decision to blame the Islamic republic for last week’s assault on the MV Mercer Street was a “very premature reaction.”

Iran and the UK both summoned each other’s ambassadors amid heightened tensions over the attack on the Israeli ship.

The Israeli-operated ship Mercer Street came under attack off the coast of Oman on Thursday while traveling from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah. The oil tanker, managed by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime, was reportedly attacked by suicide drones. Zodiac Maritime said two crewmen, a British and Romanian national, died in the attack.

“With profound sadness, we understand the incident onboard the M/T Mercer Street on 29 July, 2021 has resulted in the deaths of two crew members on board,” the UK-based Israeli company said in a statement on Friday afternoon, a day after the attack.

Israel, the U.S. and the UK blamed Iran for the attack without presenting any evidence to support their accusations.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed that Tel Aviv knows with certainty Iran attacked the Mercer Street ship and will respond to it.

“I determine, with absolute certainty – Iran carried out the attack against the ship,” Bennett stated, according to the Jerusalem Post. “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.”

London also summoned the Iranian ambassador to the UK. “The Iranian Ambassador to the UK, Mohsen Baharvand, was summoned today to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office by the Minister for the Middle East, James Cleverly, in response to the unlawful attack committed on MV Mercer Street on 29 July,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

Iran responded by summoning the British charge d’affaires in Tehran, in the absence of the country’s ambassador, to protest the anti-Iran accusations leveled by the British foreign secretary.

During the Monday meeting, the director of the Foreign Ministry’s third department of Western Europe expressed regret about the unfounded accusation by the British top diplomat, and said, “These hasty, contradictory remarks made without any evidence or proof are rejected and strongly condemned.”

“This is not the first time Britain levels hasty and unsubstantiated accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This country [Britain] had in some instances in the past also accused Iran of actions that were never proven and no proof or evidence was presented to support them.”

The Iranian official also underlined Iran’s efforts to ensure and strengthen security in the Persian Gulf, stressing that Tehran considers the waterway a secure route for the innocent passage of vessels.

“The source of instability in the Persian Gulf is not Iran; it is rather the presence of warships and military forces of countries from outside the region,” he pointed out.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry official also warned against any adventurism by the occupying regime of Israel or others in the region. He said Iran’s definite policy is defending itself and giving a crushing, timely and proportionate response to any act of adventurism.

The British charge d’affaires also pledged to promptly convey the proceedings to London.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh warned the UK about accusations against Iran. Khatibzadeh strongly condemned and deeply regretted the baseless accusations made by the British foreign secretary against the Islamic Republic, which were repeated by the U.S. secretary of state in the same context and contained contradictory, false and provocative accusations.

“Such coordinated statements (from Britain and the U.S.) include contradictory phrases per se, in a way that they first level accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran without providing any evidence and document and then talk about the ‘possibility’ of this,” Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

The spokesman described Iran as an advocate and supporter of the safe navigation of ships in the Persian Gulf and international waters, and said as a country that has the longest sea borders in the Persian Gulf, Iran is always prepared for cooperation with regional countries to ensure maritime security.

He also noted that Iran considers the presence and interference of the extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf waters and its littoral states to be harmful to the region’s stability and security.

“It is a pity that these countries (the U.S. and Britain) have remained supportively silent about the terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage against Iranian trade vessels in the Red Sea and international waters, but have raised bogus allegations against Iran with political bias in a brazen manner. If these countries have any evidence for their bogus claims, they should present them,” he added.

Khatibzadeh finally noted that Iran has no hesitation in protecting its security and national interests and will respond promptly and strongly to any possible adventure.

Also on Monday, the spokesman warned on Twitter, “As guarantor of Persian Gulf security, Iran strongly condemns provocative & orchestrated UK/US statements. Having kept silent abt REPEATED terrorist attacks on IRANIAN ships, they now baselessly accuse IRAN. Any anti-Iran adventurism will receive IMMEDIATE & DECISIVE response.”

Speaking hours after he was summoned to the Foreign Office over the incident, Baharvand pointed out that the dispute should not damage relations between the two countries or derail talks with the UK and other nations designed to revive the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers.

“We understand one of the UK’s citizens has lost a life and that is for everybody a regrettable act, but that doesn’t mean you can put the blame immediately on one country. You have to investigate the case, you have to have evidence,” Baharvand said. “We are not for escalating — escalation doesn’t help anybody.”

Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, said on Monday that Iran “should face up to the consequences of what they’ve done”. He described the incident as “an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial shipping.”

Baharvand, a former deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs, said the nuclear deal was a “very special case” with its own process and the talks on the accord “should not be affected by anything.”

He said that the talks, held in Vienna, had made “very good progress”. But he added three key requests by Iran: for a guarantee that the U.S. could not unilaterally abandon the deal in the future; for sanctions to be lifted; and for the talks to not be linked to Iran’s missile program or its regional policies.

Baharvand suggested that Israel, which is vehemently opposed to the nuclear deal, was stoking tensions in the region.

The Iranian ambassador said Israel had attacked 11 Iranian merchant vessels this year. “If you are worried about the trade [and] shipping you have to see what is happening there,” he said. “Israel is nervous about the JCPOA [the nuclear deal]. They are nervous about the power of Iran.”

The post Iran to UK warns of escalation over Israeli ship appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In a statement on Monday, Khatibzadeh said the statements issued by U.S. and UK top diplomats contain “contradictory” claims and “provocative and false accusations.” He condemned these statements and called them “deeply regrettable.”

“Such coordinated statements (from Britain and the U.S.) include contradictory phrases per se, in a way that they first level accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran without providing any evidence and document and then talk about the ‘possibility’ of this,” Khatibzadeh said.

The spokesman described Iran as an advocate and supporter of the safe navigation of ships in the Persian Gulf and international waters, and said as a country that has the longest sea borders in the Persian Gulf, Iran is always prepared for cooperation with regional countries to ensure maritime security.

He also noted that Iran considers the presence and interference of the extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf waters and its littoral states to be harmful to the region’s stability and security.

“It is a pity that these countries (the U.S. and Britain) have remained supportively silent about the terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage against Iranian trade vessels in the Red Sea and international waters, but have raised bogus allegations against Iran with political bias in a brazen manner. If these countries have any evidence for their bogus claims, they should present them,” he added.

He also warned against any move by the UK and the U.S. against Iran in the wake of a mysterious attack on an Israeli-operated oil tanker off the coast of Oman.

The Israeli-operated ship Mercer Street came under attack off the coast of Oman on Thursday while traveling from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah. The oil tanker, managed by Israeli shipping magnate Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime, was reportedly attacked by suicide drones. Zodiac Maritime said two crewmen, a British and Romanian national, died in the attack.

“With profound sadness, we understand the incident onboard the M/T Mercer Street on 29 July, 2021 has resulted in the deaths of two crew members on board,” the UK-based Israeli company said in a statement on Friday afternoon, a day after the attack.

Israel, the U.S. and the UK blamed Iran for the attack without presenting any evidence to support their accusations.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed that Tel Aviv knows with certainty Iran attacked the Mercer Street ship and will respond to it.

“I determine, with absolute certainty – Iran carried out the attack against the ship,” Bennett stated, according to the Jerusalem Post. “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 noted, “In any case, we know how to send a message to Iran in our own way.”

The UK also followed suit. “We believe this attack was deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law by Iran. UK assessments have concluded that it is highly likely that Iran attacked the MV Mercer Street in international waters off Oman on 29 July using one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” said a UK statement on Sunday. “The UK is working with our international partners on a concerted response to this unacceptable attack.”

London went so far as to summon the Iranian ambassador to the UK. “The Iranian Ambassador to the UK, Mohsen Baharvand, was summoned today to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office by the Minister for the Middle East, James Cleverly, in response to the unlawful attack committed on MV Mercer Street on 29 July,” the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also echoed the same allegations. “Upon review of the available information, we are confident that Iran conducted this attack, which killed two innocent people, using one-way explosive UAVs, a lethal capability it is increasingly employing throughout the region,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

In a thinly-veiled threat, Blinken said the U.S. was working with its allies to coordinate a response to Iran. “We are working with our partners to consider our next steps and consulting with governments inside the region and beyond on an appropriate response, which will be forthcoming,” Blinken said.

Khatibzadeh warned that Iran has no hesitation in protecting its security and national interests and will respond promptly and strongly to any possible adventure.

In a tweet on Monday, the spokesman warned, “As guarantor of Persian Gulf security, Iran strongly condemns provocative & orchestrated UK/US statements. Having kept silent abt REPEATED terrorist attacks on IRANIAN ships, they now baselessly accuse IRAN. Any anti-Iran adventurism will receive IMMEDIATE & DECISIVE response.”

Also, Iran summoned the UK chargé d’affaires given the fact that the UK ambassador to Iran is not in the country. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the head of the Third Bureau of Western Europe at the ministry summoned the UK chargé d’affaires to express regret over the UK foreign secretary’s “baseless” accusation against Iran.

“These rash contradictory and unfounded remarks are rejected and strongly condemned,” the head of the Third Bureau told the British diplomat.

He added, “This is not the first rash and unfounded accusation by the UK against the Islamic Republic of Iran. This country has in the past leveled some accusations against Iran that were never proved and has not presented any evidence so far to support them.”

The Iranian diplomat noted, “Iran has always considered the Persian Gulf as a safe waterway for the safe passage of ships and has tried to establish and strengthen security in it. The source of instability in the Persian Gulf is not Iran but the presence of ships and military forces of extra-regional countries.”

While warning about any adventure on the part of Israel, he said the definite policy of the Islamic Republic is based on self-defense and decisively, timely, and proportionately responding to any adventure.

The post Iran rejects U.S., UK accusations over Israeli ship appeared first on Iran News Daily.