A day after a merchant vessel with a crew of 23, including an estimated 21 Indians, was hit by a suspected drone strike in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast, the US Department of Defense said Sunday that the aerial attack was launched from Iran.
According to a Pentagon spokesperson speaking to Reuters, the motor vessel CHEM PLUTO, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker, fell victim to a one-way attack drone fired from Iran. The incident occurred at approximately 10 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT) in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.
The Pentagon statement said this was the "seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021".
Emergency response teams managed to extinguish a fire on board the ship, and there were no casualties reported. Maritime security firm Ambrey, as reported by the BBC, linked the tanker to Israel.
The event brings attention to the escalating regional tensions, introducing a new risk to shipping lanes in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Public criticism from the Iranian government and its allied militant forces in Yemen against the Israeli government's military operation in Gaza has intensified.
So far, more than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7.
