Persian Gulf update 8/01/2021..Israeli PM Bennett says Iran "made a grave mistake" in alleged deadly oil tanker attack

Israel seeking international condemnation of Iran

Iran “made a grave mistake” in alleged deadly oil tanker attack – Bennett

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett condemned a deadly attack that Israel has blamed Iran for on oil tanker off the cost of Oman during a meeting of the Israeli cabinet in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Israeli authorities have accused Iran of conducting an attack against the ‘Mercer Street’ oil tanker, which happened on Thursday. The Japanese-owned ship is managed by the Israeli-owned and UK-based shipping firm Zodiac Maritime and bears the flag of Liberia.

“The Iranians who attacked the ship ‘Mercer Street’ with an unmanned aircraft aimed at hitting an Israeli target. Instead this act of piracy caused the death of a British and a Romanian citizen,” explained Bennett.

“I would like to express my grief to the UK and Romanian governments, and of course to the families of those who were died,” added Bennett.

Tehran has rejected Israel’s accusations of blame over the attack, with Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh branding them as ‘false.’ “The intelligence evidence for this (attack) exists and we expect the international system to make it clear to the Iranian regime that they have made a grave mistake,” said Bennett.

“In any case, we know how to convey the message to Iran in our own way,” added Bennett.

Following Thursday’s attack, the oil tanker was escorted by ships belonging to the US Navy.

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Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President (Farsi): “Whatever we said and announced to people in the past years, was nothing contrary to reality. We told the reality to the people. Of course, we did not tell people a part of the reality because I thought we could not tell them since I did not find them useful. I feared the national unity, the very high goal that everyone should follow and this valuable thing, would be hurt. For this reason, we accepted many issues, we did not answer many critics to maintain the national integrity and national unity in our country.”

Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President (Farsi): “My dream was to equip our army and IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) with the most modern weapons. The Secretary of Defence testifies that I was all looking for it. We did all the work. We discussed with the countries, the contract was signed, the details of this contract were discussed, everything was done. They said that if the UN sanctions are lifted, they will provide them to us immediately. We also lifted the UN sanctions. This was the issue that Trump tried so hard so that our military and defence sanctions would not be lifted and did not succeed, and this sanction was lifted in October last year. Everything was done, we did not have enough money to buy because of the sanctions and the lack of oil sales. Otherwise, the contract is now completely ready.”

Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President (Farsi): “If we had a fault and defect, we apologise to people and ask forgiveness and mercy, since we took actions in those conditions as much as we could. Despite the fact that we went through a war and hard pressure, we did not abandon the development of the country. When a country enters the war, it abandons the development path, and focuses on the people’s normal life.”

Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President (Farsi): “I apologise to the great nation of Iran for the suffering they went through and thank them for their victory. Our nation won twice. In the eleventh government, our nation won in the negotiations and in constructive interaction. Our nation has succeeded in the second government in endurance and resistance against the United States and other enemies and definitely defeated them. They confess themselves. The Iranian nation has drawn them to the negotiating table. Both major successes in the eleventh and twelfth governments are related to the great nation of Iran and guidelines by the Supreme Leader. The government has also done whatever it could in this regard.”

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