(Dubai) A chemical tanker was hit on Saturday off the coast of India by an “attack drone fired from Iran”, according to the US Department of Defense, with a maritime agency claiming for its part that the ship was linked to Israel.
The attack, which occurred at 10 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Time) on Saturday, did not cause any injuries and a fire was extinguished, the Pentagon said, according to which the US military “remains in communication with the ship as it continues on its way to a destination in India.”
The ship, the MV Chem Pluto, sails under the flag of Liberia, belongs to a Japanese company and is operated by a Dutch company, the American ministry said.
According to maritime security firm Ambrey, the ship “is affiliated with Israel” and sails between Saudi Arabia and India. The attack occurred in the Arabian Sea, 200 nautical miles southwest of the Indian port of Veraval in Gujarat state, Ambrey and Britain’s maritime security agency UKMTO said.
The American daily Wall Street Journal claimed that the Dutch company operating the MV Chem Pluto “is linked to Israeli shipping magnate Idan Ofer”.
No US warships were in the vicinity of the chemical tanker at the time of the attack, according to the Pentagon.
India said it had responded to a request for assistance. “A plane was dispatched to the scene and established the safety of the ship and its crew,” an Indian navy official told AFP.
Gibraltar “closure”
“An Indian Navy warship has also been dispatched to the spot to provide necessary assistance,” he added.
While responsibility for this strike was not immediately established, it follows a series of drone and missile attacks carried out in recent weeks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, supported by Iran. , against the backdrop of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In November, an Israeli cargo ship was also damaged in a suspected drone attack carried out by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Indian Ocean, according to a US official.
“As the crimes continue, America and its allies must expect the emergence of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways,” said Mohammad Reza Naqdi, deputy coordinator of the (IRGC), quoted by the Iranian Tasnim news agency.
“They will soon have to expect the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and other waterways to be closed against them,” he warned.
Attacks on shipping since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7 have prompted major shipping companies to redirect their ships to the southern tip of Africa, despite higher fuel costs for far-flung voyages. longer.
“Completely harmful influence”
The Houthi rebels, who control swaths of Yemeni territory including the capital Sanaa, have launched more than 100 drone and missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant ships involving more than 35 different countries, according to the Pentagon.
The Houthis repeat that they will continue their attacks as long as sufficient food and medicine do not return to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa, are “part of the axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes other groups supported by Iran, such as Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
The White House has accused Iran of being “heavily involved in planning” recent attacks by Houthi rebels by providing them with “sophisticated military equipment” and “intelligence assistance.”
On Saturday, Iran for its part denied any involvement. “The resistance (armed groups fighting against Israel, editor’s note), has its own forces and acts according to its own decisions and capabilities,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told the Mehr agency.
British Foreign Secretary and former Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday that Iran exerted “a truly malign influence in the region and around the world”. In an interview published by the Sunday Telegraph, he called for the international community to send Iran “an extremely clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated.”
The United States announced on December 18 the formation of a coalition to defend maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, joined by around twenty countries including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Greece, Norway, the Netherlands and Bahrain.