US Central Command (CENTCOM) released a statement Friday blaming Iran for the July 29th attack on the Israeli-linked tanker Mercer Street. The attack was carried out by a drone and killed two crewmembers, but Iran maintains it was not responsible for the incident.
CENTCOM said in total, three Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were used in the attack, but only one hit the Mercer Street. Based on the debris of one UAV, CENTCOM said that “US experts” determined that it was “produced in Iran,” but pictures released by CENTCOM show that little debris was recovered.
The CENTCOM report says the conclusion is only based on the fact that a vertical fin recovered at the scene is similar to fins on Iranian-designed UAVs. “US Experts concluded, based on the vertical fin being identical to those identified on one of the Iranian designed and produced one-way attack ‘kamikaze’ UAV family, that Iran was actively involved in this attack,” the report says.
Even if the drone was Iranian-made, it doesn’t necessarily mean Tehran was behind the attack. There are many Shia militias in Iraq and Syria with Iranian arms that have plenty of motive to attack Israel since the Israelis are constantly bombing and killing their fighters in Syria.
The Group of Seven also joined in on blaming Iran for the attack. The G7 is a coalition of seven governments; the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. The G7’s foreign minister released a joint statement condemning the incident.
“We condemn the unlawful attack committed on a merchant vessel. This was a deliberate and targeted attack, and a clear violation of international law … All available evidence clearly points to Iran. There is no justification for this attack,” the statement said.
Israel has been trying to rally other countries to get behind the idea of attacking Iran over the Mercer Street. On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel was prepared to launch a military strike against the Islamic Republic. “We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran,” he said. “The world needs to take action against Iran now.”
The billionaire class, like the economy, has been globalized. All share the same interest -basically, the rule by bourgeois finance capitalism- and convene in various congresses like Davos, Aspen, Bilderberg, and hundreds lesser in order to determine and coordinate policy. Western liberal Nationalism is dead and buried along with its last vestiges of constitutional republican governance. There is little difficulty for these elite arriving at consensus, even against the express interest of the overwhelming majority of their host populations. Such is the case here, and nobody knows it better than Zionists.
I blame the attack on the USS Liberty on Israel, for which it has never been held accountable.
The monstrous Lyndon Baines Johnson’s reply to the attack was as follows: “I’m not going to lose an ally for a few sailors!”
LBJ, brought to you courtesy of the Vietnam War and collusion in the assassination of JFK.
The G7? That’s like the old days when the Soviet Union chirped and the Warsaw Pact chimed in.
Nothing adds up here — confusion about the ship ownership, British management company, etc.
The most shocking is a photo released about the damage to the pilot bridge. One computer monitor, debris. What?
If military grade drone attack happened, the pilot cabin would have been obliterated. Such metal structures cannot withstand explosion.
The two crew members are: Romanian captain and British security officer. We are to believe that the pilot cabin was hit — a truly remarkable feat for a kamikaze drone — managed to get some cabin debris down, barely knocking sideways a computer monitor, but killing captain and security officer.
This looks more and more like captain uncovered a plan to sabotage the tanker. He and security person killed. Who took charge of the ship? Somebody knows what happened there — and it ain’t drone!
It is possible that an act of sabotage was aborted, US carrier dispatched a team to deal with it,
With Israeli link not at all clear — why would Iran target it?
Also, this would be the second time Japanese interests are attacked. First time close to UAE, just at the time Japanese official was visiting Iran? Is Japan “soft” on Iran, so messages are sent?
What if the tanker was supposed to leak some oil in the Gulf of Oman, another area we are interested in parking our ships?
Who knows. But with dead bodies on board — particularly captain and security man — aborting and calling in US investigation, was the best next thing, Call them Iranian drone. The one that could not smash a computer monitor in pilot cabin.