UNITED NATIONS (Dispatches) -- An Iranian envoy to the United Nations has warned about recent suspicious attempts to create artificial maritime “incidents” in the Persian Gulf and the broader region, after the U.S. and its allies accused Iran of an attack on an Israeli-managed ship, urging a swift end to such “irresponsible acts” that harm the region’s peace.
In a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council, deputy permanent representative of Iran to the UN Zahra Ershadi rejected the “unfounded” accusation leveled by Britain, Liberia and Romania that Iran had been behind the attack on the Israeli tanker — Mercer Street — off the coast of Oman without presenting any shred of evidence to substantiate their claims.
“This unfounded claim — which was first raised, for obvious political purposes, by the Israeli regime immediately after the attack — is factually wrong and politically and ethically irresponsible, and accordingly is categorically rejected,” she said.
She added that Iran enjoys long coasts and numerous port facilities in the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman as well as high maritime shipping capacity and attaches “great importance to the maritime security and freedom of navigation.”
On Tuesday, Britain, Romania and Liberia told the UN Security Council that it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to carry out the attack on Liberian-flagged oil tanker, which was managed by the occupying regime of Israel, last week.
Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were said to have been killed in the incident.
“This attack disrupted and posed a risk to the safety and security of international shipping and was a clear violation of international law,” the trio said in a letter to the 15-member council.
Ershadi reiterated Iran’s full commitments to its relevant international obligations and said the country has significantly contributed to the promotion of maritime security and freedom of navigation.
“The deployment — for well over a decade — of Iran’s naval forces to the Indian Ocean and the adjacent areas in support of international efforts in combating piracy therein has repeatedly been acknowledged by the United Nations Secretary-General in his relevant reports and commended by the Security Council in its numerous resolutions,” the Iranian diplomat said.
The United States also joined its allies on Sunday in accusing Iran and said they would work with their allies to respond.
Ershadi drew attention to the Zionist regime’s systematic violations of international law, including its significant threats to maritime security and freedom of navigation, as well as its long record in conducting complicated false-flag operations in the high seas and key international waterways.
“The Security Council must remain fully vigilant about the security and military adventurism of this regime in such a volatile region as the Middle East, condemn such acts and hold it accountable for all its unlawful and yet highly destabilizing activities,” Ershadi said.
Pointing to the very recent provocative statements by the occupying regime’s officials threatening to use force in gross violation of the UN Charter, the Iranian envoy emphasized that Tel Aviv must be reminded that it shall bear the consequences of all its “possible adventurism and miscalculations.”
She warned about such threats from any source and said Iran “will not hesitate to take all necessary measures to vigorously protect its people, defend its sovereignty and secure its national interests.”