The US Defense Department Pentagon claimed that a drone attack was carried out by Iran on a cargo ship off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea. The attack took place in the southwest of the Indian state of Gujarat on Saturday. They see this incident as an indication of increased risk to commercial shipping beyond the Red Sea.
A Pentagon spokesman told Reuters the Liberian-flagged motor ship, the Japanese-owned Chem Pluto. A chemical tanker operated by the Netherlands was hit by a drone fired from Iran at 10am local time (6am GMT) yesterday. The drone hit the tanker in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the Indian coast.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the chemical tanker attacked off the coast of India was hit by a “one-way attack drone launched from Iran”. The US military “continues to be in contact with the vessel and it is proceeding towards a destination in India,” the statement said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, and it remains unclear whether the attack is linked to drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on ships passing through the Red Sea in recent weeks.
This is the first time the Pentagon has openly accused Iran of directly targeting ships since Israel’s war against Hamas began last October, AFP said.
Earlier, the Israeli media Channel-12 claimed that the attack on the ship on Saturday off the coast of Gujarat was made directly from Iran. Although the information is not confirmed.
It should be noted that Israel has been carrying out brutality in Palestine’s Gaza for more than two and a half months. The Houthis are targeting ships in the Red Sea to respond to their brutality. They are mainly targeting Israeli ships.
The Houthis have said that they will stop attacks as soon as Israel stops the brutality in Gaza.
