Tehran Committed to Protect Security of Persian Gulf

Iran is fully committed to ensure the security of the strategic waterways of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and deems it part of its own national security, said a senior Iranian diplomat.
“[Iran] is still ready to cooperate with regional countries toward establishing and stationing a collective security system in the region and ensuring its sustainability, while it will not hesitate even a little about protecting its sovereign rights in this area,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday, according to IRNA.
He made the remarks in reference to a statement by the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven who accused Iran of being behind a recent tanker incident in the Persian Gulf waters.
The Mercer Street vessel, a Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime, reportedly came under a suspected drone attack on July 29 off the coast of Oman, killing a Briton and a Romanian crew members.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid immediately blamed the incident on Iran while American and European sources familiar with intelligence reporting said Tehran was their leading suspect.
The US military claimed explosives experts were able to recover several pieces of a drone which were nearly identical to previously-collected samples of Iranian attack drones.
Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward also held Iran responsible for the attack, saying they know “it was deliberate and targeted.”
The G7 released a statement, alleging that “all available evidence clearly points to Iran.”  
“We call on Iran to stop all activities inconsistent with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and call on all parties to play a constructive role in fostering regional stability and peace,” it added.
Khatibzadeh said the Islamic Republic strongly condemns the G7 baseless statement, adding the incident was orchestrated only a few days before the inauguration of the new Iranian president.
“Such unfounded scenarios, which often have the Zionist regime behind them, are devised to cause tension and unfortunately have consumers who are immediately ready to jump to unreal and irrational conclusions,” he said.  

Distorted Statement

Britain raised the issue at a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday. No action is expected to be taken by the 15-member body, according to Reuters.
Iran’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Zahra Ershadi, described the G7 document as a “distorted statement”, saying it is a standard practice of the Israeli regime to accuse Iran of almost all incidents in the Middle East immediately and without evidence.
“Israel’s hue and cry on the Mercer Street incident is aimed, in particular, at hiding its terrorist acts against commercial navigation,” she said at a UNSC stakeout on Friday.
She went on to provide a few examples of the regime’s “adventurism and destabilizing activities” at regional seas, as well as its “systematic and persistent aggressions against sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries.”
“The Security Council must also prove that it is not trapped by Israel’s deceptions and fabrications,” Ershadi said.
She later warned against any “adventurism and miscalculations” by the Zionist regime whose defense minister had threatened to use force against Iran a day earlier.
“Iran will not hesitate to defend itself and secure its national interests,” she said.