Iran denies US claim it targeted tanker near India

Tehran rejected "worthless" Washington's claims that a drone attack targeting a tanker off the coast of India was "fired from Iran". The statement was in response to claims made by Pentagon after a Japanese-owned chemical tanker was targeted amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The Pentagon openly accused Tehran of the attack.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said, “We declare these claims as completely rejected and worthless. Such claims are aimed at projecting, distracting public attention, and covering up for the full support of the American government for the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Gaza.”

Iran also slammed as "repetitive" and "threadbare" recent remarks by UK foreign secretary David Cameron who called Iran a "malign influence in the region and the world" and urged a "set of deterrent measures against" it.

This comes amid Israel's war in Gaza which has continued for the past 11 weeks of Israeli air and ground attacks that have killed more than 20,400 people, mostly women and children. Israel has vowed to crush Hamas after the Palestinian militant group carried out a cross-border attack on October 7 that killed around 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians. Hamas also abducted about 250 people, 129 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.

Iran has repeatedly dismissed US and Israeli accusations that Tehran was involved in attacks by the Houthis.