Iran rejects Trump's claim of drone strike on Indian ships as 'baseless'

Iran has strongly rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that it carried out a drone attack on Indian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, describing the allegation as "simply baseless".

In a statement posted on social media, the Iranian embassy said Trump's remarks were an attempt to shift attention away from recent US military strikes on merchant ships in the Gulf of Oman that resulted in the deaths of three Indian sailors.

"The US president's accusation against Iran regarding an Indian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is simply baseless," the embassy said. "It is an attempt to divert public attention from the brutal fact that the US has attacked three Indian vessels in less than a week and killed three innocent Indian sailors. That's pathetic."

Trump's allegation came hours after India summoned US charge d'affaires Jason Meeks and conveyed its strong protest over what it described as "lethal and deadly" American strikes on commercial vessels carrying Indian crew members off the coast of Oman.

It was the second time this week that New Delhi summoned Meeks over the US actions against three vessels that resulted in the deaths of three Indian nationals.

A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on 8 June, though all crew members were rescued safely. On 10 June, another Palau-flagged tanker, Settebello, was struck, leaving three of the 24 Indian sailors on board dead. A third vessel, Jalveer, a Guinea Bissau-flagged tanker carrying 20 Indian crew members, came under attack on Thursday, 11 June.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that the strikes on the Settebello, Marivex and Jalveer had been carried out by the US Navy.

Jaiswal noted that two of the three vessels were subject to sanctions administered by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), while the third had been classified as non-compliant.

The OFAC is responsible for enforcing US sanctions, including measures targeting vessels accused of violating restrictions on the trade of Iranian and Russian oil.

The US Central Command has said it acted against the three vessels — Marivex on 8 June, Settebello on 9 June and MT Jalveer on 11 June — alleging that they were attempting to breach the US blockade of Iranian ports.

With PTI inputs