TOI correspondent from Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday implicated Iran in alleged drone attacks against Indian ships in the Strait of Hormuz amid growing anger in New Delhi over American missile strikes against vessels that killed three Indian sailors.
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“Also, their (Iran’s) totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. They better get their act together, and FAST!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, hours after New Delhi summoned a senior US diplomat to South Block for a second time on Friday to convey its displeasure over the American attacks. Trump did not address the death of Indian sailors.
Also read: MEA lodges protest against attacks on ships in Hormuz with Indians on board
US Navy and Centcom forces have attacked multiple tankers with Indian crew members in the Gulf of Oman in recent days, including a strike on the Palau-flagged MT Settebello that killed three Indian sailors. US forces also struck MT Marivex, said to be a "sanctioned tanker," and 24 Indian crew members affected in the attack were rescued by Omani forces. No details were available on the US strike on MV Jalveer which also had an Indian complement.
The US Centcom has confirmed the attacks, describing them as "precision" strikes on engine rooms after the vessels allegedly violated the US blockade of Iranian ports, were suspected of carrying Iranian oil, and "repeatedly failed to comply with directions" from American forces. According to US accounts, an F-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln "fired a precision munition into the ship's engineering and steering spaces" to disable the vessels.
While official US responses have centered on operational necessity rather than any expressions of regret for the Indian losses, at least one of the ships, MT Marivex, was identified by the Forward Seamen's Union of India as being 28km (17 miles) off the coast of Oman, and – well beyond the Strait of Hormuz that Trump referred to – when it was struck by US forces.
