Tehran brushed off Washington’s claims that a drone strike that struck a ship off the coast of India was “fired from Iran” as “worthless”. The statement addressed claims made by the Pentagon in the wake of the attack on a Japanese-owned chemical tanker in the midst of a flurry of missile and drone strikes in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran and are aiding the Palestinians in Gaza. The Pentagon openly credited Tehran for the bombing.
Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said: “We declare these claims as completely rejected and worthless. Such claims are aimed at projecting, distracting public attention, and covering up for the full support of the American government for the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Gaza.”
Iran also denounced as “repetitive” and “threadbare” recent statements made by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who described Iran as a “malign influence in the region and the world” and advocated for a “set of deterrent measures against” us.
This occurs in the midst of Israel’s 11-week-long war in Gaza, during which time Israeli air and ground strikes had claimed over 20,400 lives, the majority of them women and children.
Iran has consistently refuted claims made by the US and Israel that Tehran was complicit in the Houthi strikes.