United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday told India’s Externational Affais Minister S Jaishankar that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from US forces in Hormuz Strait. During an urgent telephonic call, Rubio said violations of US blockade and illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated.
The development comes after India on Friday summoned US Chargรฉ dโAffaires Jason Meeks in protest over the attacks on Indian vessels off the coast of Oman amid the ongoing war between the United States and Iran. Notably, this was the second time in 48 hours when Meeks has been summoned by New Delhi.
Meeks, who is the Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy in New Delhi, was called in by Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The development comes a day after a merchant vessel, identified as MT Jalveer, with 20 Indian crew members wasย targeted near the Shinas portย of Oman on Thursday. Jalveer, according to ship monitoring website MarineTraffic, is a Guinea-flagged ship.ย
Several videos that have gone viral on social media showed smoke arising from the vessel. Later, the Indian Embassy in Oman said it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities.
The attack on Jalveer was the third such instance of an attack on a vessel. On June 8, the first incident had happened after a blaze erupted on the MT Marivex following a strike. The tanker had 24 Indians, who were rescued safely by the authorities.
On June 10, another tanker identified as MT Settebello was attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel was a Palau-flagged tanker. The vessel had 24 crew members, of which 21 were rescued safely but three people died.ย
“It is deeply unfortunate to learn of the tragic incident aboard the Palau-flagged MT Settebello. Sadly, three Indian seafarers initially reported missing are now confirmed dead after bodies have been located and identified,” said Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday in an X post.ย
In the meantime, US President Donald Trump accused Iran of carrying out drone attacks against Indian ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz, describing the alleged action as “totally unacceptable”, while Tehran rejected the charge as “baseless”.
Three vessels with Indian crew came under attack off the Oman coast this week. One of them resulted in the death of three Indian seafarers on Wednesday.
“Their (Iran’s) totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE,” Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
In the same post, Trump also accused Iran of leaking the terms of the peace deal to the media that had nothing to do with the points under discussion.
Iran vehemently rejected Trump’s allegation. “The US president’s accusation against Iran regarding an Indian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is simply baseless,” the Iranian Embassy in India said in a social media post late Friday night.
“It is an attempt to divert public attention from the brutal fact that the US has attacked 3 Indian vessels in less than a week and killed 3 innocent Indian sailors. That’s pathetic!” it said.
Trump’s remarks came after India summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in New Delhi to protest against US attacks on commercial ships carrying Indian nationals near the Oman coast. India has described the attacks on commercial vessels as “deeply worrisome” and it has strongly taken up the matter with the US.