LONDON: The UK government has been criticized for failing to retaliate after a British Army veteran was killed in an alleged Iranian drone attack on an oil tanker off Oman’s coast.
The unidentified Briton was killed on Saturday after a so-called kamikaze drone struck the oil tanker he was serving on as a security officer.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid blamed Tehran for the attack on the Mercer Street vessel, and urged Britain to retaliate. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, however, has remained silent on the incident.
Lapid said: “I noted (to Raab) the need to respond severely to the attack. Iran is not just an Israeli problem, but an exporter of terror, destruction and instability that hurt us all. The world must not be silent in the face of Iranian terror.”
Sam Armstrong, director of communications at the London-based Henry Jackson Society think tank, told Arab News: “Despite Iran’s regular offenses, Britain has continued to look the other way. From the kidnapping of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe to drone attacks on Saudi oilfields, the hijacking of British-flagged boats and the support of terror activities that have killed Britons around the Middle East, we have let Iran get away with murder.”
He added: “Weakly ignoring these violations and attacks only inspires Tehran to commit worse atrocities. This policy will cost more British lives. Not only is this a naive approach, hoping blindly that this terroristic regime will go away, but it’s also a stupid one that threatens the security of our nation.”
Israel is expected to launch a diplomatic assault on Iran via the UN, but it remains unclear if London will react to the drone strike, which also claimed the life of a Romanian worker.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the incident with Lapid and other regional partners “to investigate the facts, provide support, and consider the appropriate next steps.”
On Saturday, Israeli media carried a quote from a military officer saying a response to the attack on the Mercer Street would be forthcoming, adding: “The only question is how and when we’ll respond.”
Armstrong said: “While the US and Israel are holding discussions to determine what happened and plan a response, London is staying silent despite the loss of a Briton’s life. This cowardly silence demeans Britain on the world stage.”
He added: “We’re leaving the important work of defending our citizens and countering Iranian aggression to other countries.”
The UK Foreign Office said in a statement on Friday: “We are deeply concerned by today’s incident off the coast of Oman. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of the British and Romanian nationals killed in the incident. Vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the allegations are “baseless,” but state TV channel Al-Alam said the drone strike was a “response to a recent Israeli attack” on a Syrian military airport.
The Syrian regime has been supported by Iranian forces, with Tehran viewing its survival as crucial to its own security.
The strike on the Mercer Street shared similar tactics and procedures to kamikaze drones operated by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen, where unmanned aircraft packed with explosives detonate on or near the intended target.
The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government regularly intercepts Iranian-made drones in Yemen and the surrounding region.
The tanker was in the northern Indian Ocean — beyond Iran’s usual area of activity — when it was hit.
Zodiac Maritime, which operated the Japanese-owned tanker, said it is being directed to a “safe location” with a US naval escort.
Meir Javedanfar, an Iran and security researcher at Israel’s IDC Herzliya university, said the attack was “most probably” carried out by Iran.
The strike is a sign of rising tensions and the increasing severity of assaults on tankers. The deaths are the first fatalities following years of tanker attacks.
