Iran rejects US claims on Tehran targeting tanker

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Monday as “worthless” Washington’s claims that a drone attack targeting a tanker off the coast of India was “fired from Iran”. Saturday’s targeting of a Japanese-owned chemical tanker came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the Zionist entity has killed more than 20,400 people, mostly women and children, since Oct 7. The Pentagon later openly accused Tehran of the attack.

“We declare these claims as completely rejected and worthless,” said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani when asked about the US accusations. “Such claims are aimed at projecting, distracting public attention, and covering up for the full support of the American government for the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza,” he added. The Zionist entity claims its relentless ground and air military campaign is aimed at destroying Palestinian resistance group Hamas which launched an attack on southern Zionist communities and military bases nearly 80 days ago. Around 1,140 people, mostly civilians, died in the attack and subsequent Zionist military operation aimed at regaining control of Hamas-targeted communities.

Kanani also slammed as “repetitive” and “threadbare” recent remarks by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron who branded Iran a “malign influence in the region and the world” and urged a “set of deterrent measures against” it. The Islamic republic, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the Oct 7 attacks as a “success” but denied any direct involvement.

Yemeni rebels’ recent attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea have prompted major firms to reroute their cargo vessels around the southern tip of Africa, a much longer voyage with higher fuel costs. Iran has repeatedly dismissed US and Zionist accusations that Tehran was involved in attacks by the Houthis, saying the group was acting on its own.