The Group of Seven major industrialized nations on Friday jointly condemned last week’s attack on an oil tanker in the Arabian Sea and said evidence indicated Iran was behind the incident.
On 29 July there was an attack on Hwy Mercer Street off the coast of Oman, killing two people – a Romanian and a British national.
“We condemn the unlawful attack on a merchant ship,” the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said in a joint statement.
“It was a deliberate and targeted attack, and a clear violation of international law,” he said. “All available evidence clearly points to Iran. There is no justification for this attack.”
The ship is managed by a firm owned by an Israeli billionaire, and Israel – along with the US and UK – had already pointed the finger at Tehran. Iran has denied involvement.
In their statement, the G-7 countries said, “Iran’s behaviour, with the support of proxy forces and non-state armed actors, is a threat to international peace and security.”
“We call on Iran to cease all activities inconsistent with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and call on all parties to play a constructive role in promoting regional stability and peace,” he said.
From the left, European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Eurogroup President Pascal Donoho, World Bank President David Malpass, Italy’s Economy and Finance Minister Daniel Franco, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, UK’s Chancellor. Treasury Rishi Sunak, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Mathias Kormann and Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso Pose in London on June 5, 2021 For a family photo on the second day of the G7 Finance Ministers meeting at Lancaster House in K. (Henry Nichols / Poole / AFP)
The ministers called for ships in the region to be able to “navigate freely in accordance with international law”.
“We will continue to do our best to protect all shipping, on which the global economy depends, so that it can operate freely without the threat of irresponsible and violent acts,” he said.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid praised the “important statement from the G7”, tweeting that “Iran was behind the attack on Mercer Street, just as it has been behind many terrorist attacks around the world.”
“Iran is not just an Israeli problem, it is a global problem. It is time for the world to hold the Iranian regime accountable,” said the foreign minister.
Also on Friday, Defense Secretary Benny Gantz spoke by phone with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin, thanking the Biden administration for its “leadership in the actions taken so far, including rapid investigations and public condemnation of Iranian aggression”. Is. read out.
NS axios news site reported that after Japan stopped signing for several days, US pressure published the G7 statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a news conference with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait City, Kuwait July 29, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pools via AP)
In addition to being managed by an Israeli firm, Mercer Street was owned by a Japanese company, and Tokyo feared that joining the G7 statement would result in retaliation from Iran, with which it maintains macroeconomic ties, Axios said. Said.
It took several days of US consultations with their Japanese counterparts, including a call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, until Tokyo agreed to fall in line.
Also in Friday’s phone call between Gantz and Austin, the former minister said, “Additional action must be taken to thwart Iran’s deadly activities, including its nuclear program and attacks in the region, and in particular the use of UAVs and missiles.” use is involved.”
The defense minister highlighted the recent inauguration of ultra-conservative Ibrahim Raisi as Iran’s new president, saying it “points towards an even more extremist and radical direction towards Iran.”
Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command published the findings of its investigation into the deadly attack, which determined that the Mercer Street attack drones were manufactured by Iran.
JUST IN: After an extensive investigation, the US concluded that the drone that killed the Mercer Street tanker was manufactured by Iran. To @centcom pic.twitter.com/hn8HmW7OnS
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) August 6, 2021
The report said that explosives specialists were able to recover several fragments from the UAVs that hit the ship “and internal components that were almost identical to the examples collected before the Iranian One-Way Attack UAVs. The distance was within range of the documented Iranian One-Way Attack UAVs.”
The CENTCOM report said the findings were shared with explosives experts from the UK and Israel and that “both partners agreed with the US findings.”
However, while the report concluded that the drone was made in Iran, it did not specify whether Iran was the controlling party when it crashed into Mercer Street.
