The United States on Monday vowed a "collective response" with its allies to Iran after an attack that killed two people and targeted an oil tanker operated by an Israeli businessman in the Sea of Oman, which Iran denied responsibility.
"We are in close contact and coordination with the United Kingdom, Israel, Romania and other countries, and the response will be collective" to the attack, which Iran denied being involved in, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Blinken confirmed on Monday that the United States is confident that Iran launched a drone attack on an Israeli-operated tanker that was passing through international waters near Oman on Friday.
"I want to condemn again Friday's attack on the merchant ship," he told a regular news briefing. "We have conducted a comprehensive review and are confident that Iran carried out this attack."
Tel Aviv, Washington and London accused Tehran of being behind the attack last Thursday on an oil tanker operated by the company "ZODIAC Maritime" owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, which killed two of its crew, one British and one Romanian.
The oil tanker Mercer Street was attacked off the coast of Oman, killing two of its crew, according to a statement issued by Zodiac Maritime.
No party claimed responsibility for the attack, but the company Dryad Global, which specializes in maritime security, spoke of "new reprisals in the clandestine war between the two powers", that is, Iran and Israel.
Climbing a step in the escalation ladder
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said, on Monday, that his country must act now against Iran against the backdrop of the attack on the Mercer Street oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
He considered that Iran, led by what he described as the new butcher, in reference to its president, Ibrahim Raisi, would be the most dangerous for the world.
In an interview with the Knesset, Gantz added, commenting on the attack on the Israeli ship, that Iran will be more harmful and destructive to the region than it was, and will aspire to become an existential threat to Israel.
Gantz said that the attack on the Mercer Street ship, which left two dead, constitutes a new rise in escalation, and requires action against Iran, which undermines stability in the Middle East and seeks to seriously arm those he described as terrorist militias.
The Israeli Defense Minister added, "This is not a future threat, but a concrete and immediate danger," according to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Gantz did not provide further details about the nature of the action he called for against Iran.
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, General Aviv Kohavi, had a telephone conversation with his British counterpart Sir Nick Carter yesterday, in which they discussed recent events in the region.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Tehran of "trying to evade responsibility" for Thursday's incident, and called its denial an act of "cowardice".
On Sunday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that the incident required a strong response.
Johnson: The attack is terrible
In turn, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the attack on the Israeli ship was terrible, and that Iran should bear the consequences. Johnson's statements came amid a continuing Iranian-Western escalation over the ship.
Johnson added that Iran should respect freedom of navigation around the world.
The British Foreign Office had summoned the Iranian ambassador to London after accusing Tehran of targeting the ship.
A ministry spokesman said in a statement that Iran's ambassador, Mohsen Baharvand, "was summoned today to the State Department by Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs James Cleverly, following the unlawful attack on Mercer Street on July 29."
British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa James Cleverly told Al Jazeera that he assured the ambassador that Iran must immediately stop its actions that threaten international peace and security, stressing that ships must be allowed to sail freely in accordance with international law.
The government held a special meeting over the weekend to discuss the attack on the Mercer Street tanker operated by an Israeli company.
In this context, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab expressed his belief that this attack was deliberate and a clear violation of international law by Iran.
Raab noted that the UK is working with its international allies on a joint response to this unacceptable attack.
Iran denies and recalls ambassadors
On the other hand, Iran denies responsibility for the attack, and its foreign ministry today summoned the Romanian ambassador to Tehran, against the backdrop of accusing Iran of being behind the targeting of the Mercer Street ship in the Sea of Oman.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that it rejects these accusations and considers them baseless and baseless.
She asked the Romanian ambassador to convey Tehran's protest and strong dissatisfaction to the Romanian authorities.
The Foreign Ministry indicated that a third party seeks to destabilize security in the region, and that other countries should be careful about these conspiracies, as it put it.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also summoned the Chargé d'Affairs of the British Embassy in Tehran to protest his country's statements regarding the attack on the Israeli tanker Mercer Street.
A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Iran would respond quickly to any threat to its security, after the United States, Britain and Israel blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-operated tanker off Oman.
Iranian state television quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying, "Iran does not hesitate to protect its security and national interests and will respond without delay and forcefully to any possible adventure."
The television said that Khatibzadeh "feels very sorry for the baseless accusations made by the British Foreign Office against Iran, which were repeated by the US State Department in the same context, and included contradictory, incorrect and provocative accusations."
Tensions between the two countries have escalated since 2018, when former US President Donald Trump withdrew his country from the nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers, and re-imposed sanctions that paralyzed the Iranian economy.
Israel expresses its concerns about the efforts of Tehran and the administration of US President Joe Biden to revive the nuclear agreement concluded in 2015, which stipulates that Iran reduce its sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.