Iran has strongly rejected US President Donald Trump's claim that Tehran launched drone attacks on Indian-linked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, calling the allegation "simply baseless" and accusing Washington of trying to shift attention away from recent US military strikes on commercial ships that resulted in the deaths of three Indian mariners.
The Iranian embassy hit back after Trump claimed on Friday that Iran had carried out a drone attack targeting Indian ships in the strategic waterway.
"The US president's accusation against Iran regarding an Indian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is simply baseless," the embassy said in a post on social media.
"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," it added.
The remarks came hours after India summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks and conveyed that the American military's "lethal and deadly" strikes on commercial vessels carrying Indian crew members off the coast of Oman were "unacceptable". It was the second time this week that New Delhi summoned the senior US diplomat over the incidents.
Meanwhile, the US military maintained that Iranian forces had attempted to target commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. In a statement posted on X late Friday, the US Central Command (CentCom) said the US Navy had intercepted and destroyed multiple drones launched by Iran.
“Iran launched multiple one-way attack drones in an attempt to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command said.
It added that US forces had shot down all the drones and that maritime traffic through the key trade route remained unaffected.
“The international trade corridor remains open for transit,” the CentCom said.
The US military also said it continues to enforce a blockade against Iran, claiming it had redirected 139 compliant commercial ships and disabled nine vessels deemed non-compliant.
The diplomatic row comes against the backdrop of a series of US military actions against merchant vessels in the Gulf region over the past week.
A Palau-flagged oil tanker, Marivex, carrying 24 Indian seafarers, was disabled by US forces on June 8, though all crew members were rescued safely. On June 10, another Palau-flagged tanker, Settebello, was struck by the US military, killing three of the 24 Indian sailors on board. A third vessel, Jalveer, a Guinea-Bissau-flagged tanker carrying 20 Indian crew members, was attacked on June 11.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that the strikes on Settebello, Marivex and Jalveer "came from the US Navy".
Jaiswal said 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 the US Treasury's financial intelligence and enforcement agency responsible for implementing sanctions, including measures targeting vessels suspected of violating restrictions on the sale of Iranian and Russian oil.
According to CentCom, action was initiated against Marivex on June 8, Settebello on June 9 and MT Jalveer on June 11 on the grounds that they were attempting to violate the US blockade of Iranian ports.
India has lodged a strong protest with Washington over the incidents. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday and raised concerns over the attacks that claimed the lives of three Indian mariners.
“Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified,” Jaishankar said about his phone conversation with Rubio.