Romania condemns “firmly” and describes as “absolutely unacceptable” the drone attack on the ship “Mercer Street”, which resulted in the loss of life of the ship’s captain, a Romanian citizen, who fell worthy of duty, reports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bucharest requests explanations from the Iranian authorities, “without delay”, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran being urgently summoned to the Romanian MFA.
“Given the elements presented by Romania’s international partners regarding the fact that the attack was deliberate and, respectively, was coordinated by Iran, Romania requests the presentation of explanations by the Iranian authorities, without delay, and reserves the right to act accordingly, together with its international partners, for an adequate response “, says a press release by the MFA. The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Bucharest was urgently summoned to the Romanian MFA for this purpose, the MFA announces.
“Based on the available info, Romania strongly condemns t/Iranian drone attack against “Mercer Street”, during which a RO citizen was killed. There is no justification whatsoever 4 deliberately attacking civilians. We continue to coordinate with our partners an appropriate response,” Romanian FM Bogdan Aurescu says in his turn in a Twitter post.
The ministry reiterates that “the attack on a civilian target, which has resulted in loss of life and significant property damage, has no justification and must be strongly condemned internationally.” According to the press release, in order to identify the most appropriate response measures, the MFA continues to coordinate with Romania’s allies and partners. “The MFA is with the families and relatives of the victims on the ship ‘Mercer Street’ and offers all the support in the ongoing repatriation process of the deceased Romanian citizen,” the quoted press statement reads.
The United States “is sure that Iran has committed the criminal attack” on an oil tanker operated by an Israeli billionaire in the Oman Sea, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Sunday, joining Israel and the United Kingdom, AFP reported.
In a tweet, Dominic Raab also said that “UK believes the attack on MV MERCER STREET was carried out by Iran and was deliberate, targeted and unlawful. The UK calls on Iran to immediately cease actions that risk regional & international peace & security”.
On the other side, Iran has denied allegations that it was behind the attack off the coast of Oman this week against an oil tanker run by the British subsidiary of Zodiac Maritime, which is owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer (ranked 197th in the Forbes list of richest people in the world, with an estimated fortune of $ 11.3 billion).
On Thursday, the oil tanker “Mercer Street” was the target of a drone attack in the Sea of Oman. The attack resulted in two deaths, a British man working for the Ambrey security company, and a member of the Romanian crew, according to the shipowner Zodiac Maritime, an international company based in London owned by Eyal Ofer.