Israel says that Iran was directly behind another attack on an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Friday as threats from the Biden administration have failed to deter the continued attacks from Iran and its terrorist proxies.
The drone strike on Liberia-flagged MV Chem Pluto tanker happened off the coast of India, which is much closer to Iran than the Red Sea, which is where most of the attacks have occurred over the last couple of months at the hands of Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists, who are based in Yemen.
The ship was targeted because it was Israeli-affiliated and the drone was reportedly launched from inside Iran, according to local media.
The U.S. Department of Defense later confirmed Israel’s assertion that Iran was behind the attack, saying in a statement late on Saturday that the strike was carried out by “a one-way attack drone fired from Iran.”
The strike ignited a fire on the ship that was eventually extinguished. While the ship was damaged and took on water, there were no reported casualties from the attack. The 20 or so crew-members on the ship all appeared to be Indian nationals.
“Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the MV (merchant vessel),” the Indian Navy said in a statement. “Safety of the crew and ship was ascertained. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required.”
White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on Friday that the more than 100 attacks that have been launched on commercial shipping vessels amid Israel’s war against Hamas. The war was ignited when Hamas, an Iranian-backed Islamic terrorist group, murdered 1,200 Israelis, wounded 5,300, and kidnapped more than 240 during their October 7 terrorist attacks.
“Iran has the choice to provide or withhold this support, without which the Houthis would struggle to effectively track and strike commercial vessels navigating shipping lanes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Watson said. “Iranian-provided tactical intelligence has been critical in enabling Houthi targeting of maritime vessels since the group commenced attacks in November.”
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