Mercer Street tanker attack blamed on Iran; Israel demands 'tough response'

A Briton and a Romanian werekilledwhen anIsraeli-managed petroleum producttankercame underattackon Thursdayoffthe coast ofOman, the company said on Friday, in an incident thatIsrael's foreign minister blamed onIranand said deserved a harsh response.

There were varying explanations for what happened to Mercer Street, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned ship, withIsraeli-owned Zodiac Maritime describing the incident as "suspected piracy" and a source at theOmanMaritime Security Center as an accident that occurred outsideOmani territorial waters.

IranandIsraelhave traded accusations ofattacking each other's vessels in recent months andIsraeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he had told Britain's foreign secretary of the need for a tough response to the incident in whichtwocrew members, one British and the other Romanian, werekilled.

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

USand European sources familiar with intelligence reporting saidIranwas their leading suspect for the incident, which a USdefenceofficial said appeared to have been carried out by a drone, but stressed their governments were seeking conclusive evidence.

Al Alam TV, theIranian government's Arabic-language television network, cited unnamed sources as saying theattackon the ship came in response to a suspected, unspecifiedIsraeliattackon Dabaa airport in Syria.

There was no immediateofficial reaction fromIranto the accusation that it may have been responsible.

Israeli news website Ynet said the assessment inIsraelwas that there weretwoattacks on the ship, spaced several hours apart. The first caused no damage, and the second hit the bridge, causing the casualties.

It quoted an unnamedIsraeliofficial as saying: "Israelwill find it hard to turn a blind eye" to theattack.

Tensions have risen in the Gulf region since the United States reimposed sanctions onIranin 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.

The United States regards the possibility ofIranobtaining nuclear arms, an ambition Tehran denies, as a direct threat to its allyIsrael.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which provides maritime security information, said theattackwas not piracy. The vessel was about 152 nautical miles (280 km) northeast of theOmani port of Duqm when it wasattacked, it said.

London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is controlled byIsraeli magnate Eyal Ofer whose father Sammy wasIsrael's most famous shipowner, said the ship was sailing under the control of its crew and own power to a safe location with a USnaval escort.

According to Refinitiv ship tracking, the medium-sizetankerwas headed for Fujairah, a bunkering port and oil terminal in the United Arab Emirates, from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.