An attack on a tanker off the coast of Oman on Tuesday was carried out by an Iranian-made drone, US Central Command said in a statement, adding that a multilateral maritime operation led by a British Royal Navy frigate had responded to the area.
An Israeli official had blamed Iran for the strike on the Pacific Zircon tanker. The company said there was minor damage to the hull but no injuries or spillage of the gas oil cargo.
The Pacific Zircon is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.
In a statement, Eastern Pacific Shipping said Wednesday the Pacific Zircon, carrying gas oil, had been “hit by a projectile” some 150 miles (240 kilometres) off the coast of Oman.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the White House was "confident that Iran likely conducted this attack using a UAV.”
US Central Command said in a statement late on Wednesday that debris "reveals that it was a Shahed-series one-way attack drone" that hit the vessel, identifying it as Iranian-made.
"This unmanned aerial vehicle attack against a civilian vessel in this critical maritime strait demonstrates, once again, the destabilizing nature of Iranian malign activity in the region," the Central Command statement said.
It said a multilateral operation responded to the scene led by the British Royal Navy's HMS Lancaster. US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans and a US Navy patrol coastal ship and patrol craft were involved in the operation.
An Israeli official told AFP that the strike on the tanker was "an Iranian provocation.”
The official, who requested anonymity, said the attack was carried out with the "same drones that the Iranians are selling to the Russians for use in Ukraine... the Shahed 136," an unmanned aircraft equipped with a warhead.
