The Iranian Armed Forces vowed on Thursday that they would respond without any doubt to the targeting of the Saviz ship in the waters of the Red Sea earlier this week.
“We will respond without any doubt to the targeting of the two Saviz ships in the waters of the Red Sea, after knowing those involved, and we will never be silent,” Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Major General Abu Al-Fadl Shikaraji said in an exclusive statement to Sputnik on Thursday.
“We can not take any action until the end of the investigations and the circumstances of the incident are known,” he stressed.
He explained, “In any case, the ship was targeted, and now various things may have happened with the ship, but we cannot decide what we will do until after our investigations are meticulously completed.”
Regarding those who might have a hand in the attack, he replied, “We do not accuse any of the Gulf states of being involved in the incident targeting our ship in the Red Sea.”
“The finger of accusation is hovering around our direct enemies, and what is meant here is Israel and the United States,” he said.
“The United States undoubtedly has a hand in all attempts to undermine and harm Iran,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Iranian media announced an attack on the Saviz vessel as it was sailing through the Red Sea waters.
A report by the New York Times quoted an American official, who said that Israel had informed the United States that it had attacked the Iranian ship.
The official, who preferred not to be named, stated that Israel had informed the United States that its forces had bombed the Iranian ship stationed in the Red Sea.
The American official pointed out that “the Israelis described the attack as a retaliatory response to previous Iranian strikes on Israeli ships.”
Israeli officials have not commented on the incident, and have rarely confirmed or denied responsibility for attacks against Iran, according to the report.
Source » almasdarnews