JERUSALEM, 31 July 2021, (TON): Israel accused Iran of having carried out an attack off Oman on a tanker managed by an Israeli-owned company and said a harsh response was needed.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said “he had told Britain's foreign secretary of the need for a tough response to the attack in which two crew people, one British and the other Romanian, was killed.”

Lapid said in the statement "Iran is not just an Israeli problem, but an exporter of terrorism, destruction and instability that harms us all. The world must not be silent in the face of Iranian terrorism that also harms freedom of shipping."

The company said “the two crew members were killed when a petroleum products tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime came under attack on Thursday off Oman's coast.”

London-based Zodiac said on its website that the attack in the Arabian Sea on the Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged Japanese-owned ship, was still being investigated.

Earlier it had described the incident as suspected piracy but the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides maritime security information, says it was not piracy.

Zodiac, which is owned by the wealthy Israeli Ofer family, said "details of the incident are still being established and an investigation into the incident is currently underway. We continue to work closely with the UKMTO and other relevant authorities."

It said “it was not aware of harm to any other personnel than the British and Romanian crew members who were killed.”