The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday condemned the attack on the Mercer Street tanker in the Indian Ocean and summoned the Iranian ambassador in Bucharest to clarify the matter
CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2021) The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday condemned the attack on the Mercer Street tanker in the Indian Ocean and summoned the Iranian ambassador in Bucharest to clarify the matter.
The Japanese-owned vessel was attacked off the coast of Oman last week, resulting in the deaths of two crew members, citizens of Romania and the United Kingdom. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of being involved in the attack. Later, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made statements to the same effect.
"Romania strongly condemns the drone attack on the Mercer Street vessel, which resulted in the death of the ship's captain, the Romanian citizen, who perished in the line of duty," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that the country demands an explanation from Tehran and "the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been immediately summoned to the Romanian Foreign Ministry for that."
The ministry went on to say that such attacks cannot be justified and must be condemned at the international level. Romania will determine the next steps after consulting with its partners and allies, the ministry added.
The Iranian foreign ministry responded by summoning the Romanian ambassador in Tehran.
"The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Romanian ambassador to Tehran to protest the country's baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic in connection with the Mercer Street vessel incident," the ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting, the Iranian side described Bucharest's accusations as "legally invalid and unacceptable" and asked the ambassador to convey Iran's protest to Romania.
Iran has denied having any role in the incident. Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh rejected statements by the US and the UK as groundless.
