Iranian FM Araghchi blames Israel for a drone strike on a US tanker in Egypt, calling it a ‘false-flag operation’ despite Israeli reports attributing it to Iran.
Israel National News
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Thursday that Israel was responsible for the drone attack targeting an American tanker at the Damietta Port in northern Egypt on Wednesday.
Araghchi’s claim in a post on social media came after a report in The New York Times attributed responsibility to Iran for the explosion.
Iranian officials told the Times that the strike was intended to ‘send a signal’ and demonstrate that Iran is capable of disrupting international shipping lanes and the global energy supply to a far greater extent if it chooses to escalate the fighting in the region.
Despite the fact that the report claims to quote Iranian officials, Araghchi wrote on Thursday night, ‘Egypt is an important friend and partner in the region, and its security is of utmost importance to us, and therefore we must all be vigilant against Israeli plots and false-flag operations designed to undermine regional peace,’ he added.
Following Thursday’s New York Times report, Egyptian government officials said again that the explosion was caused by a UAV but did not attribute responsibility to Iran, stating that the investigation is ‘ongoing’.