Qatar on Monday condemned the attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman this past Friday in which two people were killed. The Qatari Foreign Ministry called for resorting to the international law to ensure that such attacks would not be repeated in the future, according to the Reuters news agency. The ministry added that Qatar totally rejects "actions that would disrupt the safety and security of international maritime transport and impede the movement of ships and tankers." While the Qatari statement did not attribute the attack to anyone, Israel has accused the Iranian government of carrying out the attack, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett hinted at a possible Israeli response. “We know how to convey the message to Iran in our own way," he said. On Sunday, Britain condemned Iran and accused it of carrying out Friday’s deadly attack, saying it has concluded that Iran is likely to blame for the drone bombing. “UK assessments have concluded that it is highly likely that Iran attacked the MV MERCER STREET in international waters off Oman using one or more Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” the UK said. Earlier on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised a "collective response" to Iran following the attack on the Japanese-owned, Israeli-managed MV Mercer Street last Friday. Blinken said that US was "working with UK, Romania, Israel, and others on determining the response." He added that the US was confident Iran carried out the attack, calling it "tremendously irresponsible." A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday vehemently denied claims that his country was behind the attack. The spokesman called the accusations "baseless and provocative," and warned that Iran would respond to any retaliatory action against it, "immediately and determinedly".
