LATEST GEOPOLITICAL NEWS - MARITIME SECURITY: UK and US condemn Tehran for Tanker Attack
By GEO´ Newsteam - Gibraltar
www.GEOPoliticalmatters.com
2021 Gulf of Oman incident
Part of the 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis
Date: July 29, 2021
Location: Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean
Target: MV Mercer Street
The UK, US and Israel have collectively condemned Tehran after an attack on the Israeli-owned MV Mercer Street in an attack off the Oman coast last Thursday (29th July 2021) that killed two crewmen; a British national and a Romanian citizen, in a direct violation of international law.
The statements came after Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said there was "evidence" that the Tehran regime was responsible for the attack.
The attack on the MV Mercer Street appears to be the latest escalation in an undeclared "shadow war" between Israel and Iran for months now and while there have been several attacks on both Israeli and Iranian-operated vessels they are very much seen as tit-for-tat incidents, though casualties are rare. The Israeli Prime Minister warned what "we [Israel] know how to send a message to Iran in our own way", while Tehran predictably rejected what it called the "baseless accusations".
In a statement on Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said London believed Iran had used one or more drones against the MV Mercer Street, calling it "deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law" with his US counterpart US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirming that Washington was also "confident that Iran conducted this", and that an "appropriate response" would follow. Click Here To receive our Full Analysis direct to your mailbox or smart device.
Image Credit: Nicolaj Jepsen
