US Army says Iranian made drone attacks a tanker in the Sea of Oman
According to the French Press Agency, the US Central Command released the findings of an inquiry into the assault on the MT Mercer Street oil tanker run by an Israeli firm in the Sea of Oman, in which it decided that a drone was involved in the bombing of the ship, “Made in Iran.”
Two booby-trapped drones targeted the tanker and missed the target, according to the US Central Command, before a third drone “laden with explosives for military use” struck the Japanese ship “MT Mercer Street,” operated by Zodiac, Maritime, which is controlled by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer.
“We were able to collect numerous pieces of this third aircraft,” according to the statement, and “concluded, based on evidence,” that they were “manufactured in Iran.”
The US military released numerous images of the plane’s wreckage, stating that “the distance between the Iranian shore and the assault site” is proportionate to prior drone operations.
Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, was quoted by the “Bloomberg” news agency as saying that multiple parts of the one-way drone loaded with explosives that killed two crew members of the tanker “Mercer Street” were recovered and were nearly identical to parts recovered from previous incidents of Iranian drone attacks.
According to the German news agency, “US experts have concluded based on the evidence, that this drone was produced in Iran,” Urban said, adding that two other drones failed to hit the tanker and that explosives experts from the United Kingdom and Israel were allowed to examine the evidence and their conclusions matched those of American experts.
“Iran’s behavior, as well as its support for one-by-one forces and armed non-state actors, threaten international peace and security,” said foreign ministers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan, as well as European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
