Iran Rejects U.S. Claim of Involvement in Indian Ocean Chemical Ship Incident

Defense News , Iran :- In response to a recent U.S. allegation, a spokesperson for Iran foreign ministry dismissed on Monday the assertion that Iran had targeted a chemical vessel near India as "groundless."

The Pentagon had announced on Saturday that a drone launched from Iran had attacked a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean.

"The motor vessel CHEM PLUTO, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT) today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran," stated a Pentagon spokesperson to Reuters.

This incident has brought attention to the escalating tensions in the region and heightened risks to shipping lanes, following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Both the Iranian government and its allied militant forces in Yemen have openly criticized Israel military operations in Gaza. The ongoing conflict has resulted in the loss of thousands of Palestinian lives, according to aid monitors.

The Pentagon statement noted that this marked the "seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021."

Fortunately, there were no casualties in this recent attack, and a brief fire on board the tanker was swiftly extinguished. The incident occurred a mere 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.

As of now, a spokesperson for the Iranian delegation at the United Nations has not responded to requests for comments on the matter.