TEHRAN (Reuters) - The targeting of the Iranian tanker Sabity in the Red Sea is aimed at destabilizing maritime security and will not remain unanswered, Secretary General of Iran's National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Saturday.
He said in remarks reported by the official Iranian news agency that a special investigation committee was formed in the Iranian National Security Council to follow up the case, stressing that the current evidence indicates a serious adventure, as he put it.
Shamkhani confirmed that those who planned the attack will pay the price of their actions, stressing that it is not the first time that targeted Iranian tankers in the Red Sea.
For his part, described the Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei attack that targeted yesterday the Iranian tanker in the Red Sea cowardly action and vowed to respond after the fact-finding.
Rubaie said in remarks today that Iran is studying the issue sensitively and carefully to reveal the circumstances of the attack and will respond to it without hesitation commensurate.
He said that there are those who benefit from wars and seek to destabilize security in the region and hinder any efforts for peace and dialogue.
Iranian media said yesterday that the tanker "Sabity" was hit by two missiles, more than 100 km from the Saudi port of Jeddah, causing a fire on board and leakage of the amount of fuel loaded by it.
In a statement quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency today, an Iranian official said that the tanker is heading towards the Gulf waters, and expressed hope that the Iranian waters will enter safely, pointing out that the fuel leak from them.
While Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on the reported attack on the Iranian tanker, the US Fifth Fleet operating in the region said it had heard of the news of the alleged attack on the tanker, adding that he had no further information.
Eurasia, a political risk advisory group, said it had no concrete evidence to show who was responsible.
It said in a statement that the tanker's proximity to the Saudi port of Jeddah at the time of the attack may suggest that the missiles may have been launched from the kingdom, but did not rule out that what happened was the result of an Israeli sabotage.