Iran Denies Role in Tanker Attack

A satellite image shows the damaged Mercer Street Tanker moored off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, August 4, 2021. Satellite image copyright 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the damaged Mercer Street Tanker moored off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, August 4, 2021. Satellite image copyright 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Denies Role in Tanker Attack

A satellite image shows the damaged Mercer Street Tanker moored off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, August 4, 2021. Satellite image copyright 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the damaged Mercer Street Tanker moored off the coast of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, August 4, 2021. Satellite image copyright 2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Iran on Saturday rejected as psychological warfare accusations that it was behind a deadly attack on a tanker off Oman's coast, and said Tehran sought to enhance the security of the strategic Gulf waterway.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven wealthy economies said on Friday Iran was threatening international peace and security and that all available evidence showed it was behind the attack on the Mercer Street tanker last week.

"If we were to confront enemies... we would declare it openly, so the recent storytelling by the enemies is a psychological operation," state media quoted Abolfazl Shekarchi, Iran's senior armed forces spokesman, as saying.

The vessel was a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the suspected drone attack in which two crew members - a Briton and a Romanian - were killed near the mouth of the Gulf, a key oil shipping route.

"Contrary to the strategy of the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime (Israel), which aim to create insecurity ...and Iranophobia, Iran's strategy is to strengthen security in the Gulf," Reuters quoted Shekarchi as saying.

The US military said explosives experts from the Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier - which deployed to assist the Mercer Street - concluded the drone was produced in Iran.

But Shekarchi said: "The Americans say they recovered parts of Iranian drones from the water....but in which laboratory was this evidence identified as belonging to Iran?," the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported.

"Preparing forged evidence is not a difficult task as the Zionists excel at preparing forged documents," Shekarchi said, suggesting Israel may have been behind the attack.

Despite Iran's denials, Britain, the United States and others have criticized Tehran for the attack. Britain raised the issue at a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Iran's deputy UN Ambassador Zahra Ershadi rejected the accusations that Tehran was behind the attack and warned against any retaliation: "Iran will not hesitate to defend itself and secure its national interests."



Remains of All 10 People Killed in Alaska Plane Crash Recovered

This photo provided by the US Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (US Coast Guard via AP)
This photo provided by the US Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (US Coast Guard via AP)
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Remains of All 10 People Killed in Alaska Plane Crash Recovered

This photo provided by the US Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (US Coast Guard via AP)
This photo provided by the US Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (US Coast Guard via AP)

The remains of all 10 people killed when their small plane crashed into ice on the Bering Sea have been recovered, authorities said.
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department made the announcement on its Facebook page Saturday afternoon. Recovery crews had been racing to recover the bodies before a winter storm was expected to hit the region.
“All ten individuals aboard the Bering Air plane have been officially brought home,” the fire department wrote in the social media post at about 3 p.m.
Crews were still working on recovering the aircraft, the fire department said.
The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet to the hub community of Nome when it disappeared Thursday afternoon. It was found the next day after an extensive search with all nine passengers and the pilot dead, making it one of the deadliest plane crashes in the state in 25 years.
The aircraft is on an ice floe that is drifting about 5 miles (8 kilometers) a day, creating difficult conditions for recovery crews, The Associated Press quoted National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy as saying during a press conference Saturday afternoon.
“Please know that we'll work diligently to determine how this happened with the ultimate goal of improving safety in Alaska and across the United States,” said Homendy.
As the community tried to process the deadly event, crews worked swiftly on unstable, slushy sea ice to recover the bodies and the wreckage. The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory, with snow and winds up to 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour) expected to hit the region Saturday night, lasting into Sunday evening.
Among those killed in the crash were Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson. They had traveled to Unalakleet to service a heat recovery system vital to the community’s water plant, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
"The loss of these two incredible individuals and everyone else on board the plane will be felt all over Alaska,” David Beveridge, vice president of environmental health and engineering for the organization, said in a statement.
The pilot, 34-year-old Chad Antill of Nome, was also killed. The other victims ranged in age from 30 to 58 years old.
The flight was a regularly scheduled commuter trip, according to Lt. Ben Endres of the Alaska State Troopers.
A photo provided by the Coast Guard showed the plane’s splintered body and debris lying on the sea ice. Two people in brightly colored emergency gear circled the wreckage.