The United States Pentagon said that a drone that was launched from Iran had struck a chemical tanker that was sailing in the Indian Ocean.
The incident is seen as the first attack on a commercial vessel outside of the Red Sea since a series of attacks by Houthi rebels. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Pentagon said that the latest victim was the Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker.
Iran-Launched Drone Strike
The vessel was struck at around 6:00 a.m. GMIT while it was in the Indian Ocean, roughly 200 nautical miles from the coast of India. The incident is the first of such a known attack that was made so far away from the Red Sea since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
A series of incidents have been reported in the Red Sea targeting commercial ships in the past few weeks. Houthi rebels, who are based in Yemen, have the support of Iran. They have been targeting Western ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with links to Israel, as per EuroNews.
The attacks are being made in response to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. American and French warships patrolling the area have since struck down several missiles and drones in the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has denied his country's involvement in Saturday's drone attack. He said that Iran does not have any proxy groups in the region, and he has denied his country's involvement in the series of attacks against vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels.
Amirabdollahian said that the acts done by other groups should not be attributed to Iran proxy groups. The series of attacks in the Red Sea have caused the rerouting of a huge amount of global trade away from the area. This is a shift that experts anticipate would trigger delays and rising prices.
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Attacks in the Red Sea
An American official said that there were no US Navy vessels in the vicinity during the attack on the chemical tanker. On the other hand, India's Coast Guard said that there were 20 Indian crew members and one Vietnamese onboard at the time of the incident, according to CNN.
The Coast Guard added that it dispatched a patrol vessel and a maritime surveillance aircraft after establishing communication with the vessel. The vessel, MV Chem Pluto, conducted damage assessment and repairs on its power generation systems after the attack. It then started making its way toward Mumbai while being escorted by the patrol vessel.
The incident comes as on Sunday, a Gabon-flagged commercial oil tanker was on its way to India with 25 crew, all of whom are Indian nationals, were the target of a drone attack in the southern Red Sea.
The US Central Command said that the attack, which targeted MV Sai Baba, was carried out by Houthi rebels. Mumbai police officers have also said that they are conducting round-the-clock patrols to ensure the safety of the city coastline, said the Indian Express.
