A drone that struck a chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean early on Saturday was launched by Iran, the US has said.
In a statement, the Pentagon said the Chem Pluto had been hit by a “one-way attack drone fired from Iran”.
There were no casualties following the incident and a brief fire onboard was extinguished.
The incident highlights escalating regional tensions and new risk to shipping lanes after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
Tehran and its allied military forces in Yemen has publicly criticised Israel’s military operation in Gaza. More than 20,000 people in the enclave have died, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Iran has not commented on the Chem Pluto incident.
The Pentagon said it was the “seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021.”
Major global shipping firms have rerouted their vessels after attacks in the Red Sea since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
Many vessels now take a longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa.
In other developments, the Iranian Navy on Sunday took delivery of cruise missiles with a range of 1,000km as well as reconnaissance helicopters, state media reported.
The head of Iran’s navy, Shahram Irani, said that reconnaissance helicopters, drones and marine cruise missiles were among new weapons added to the navy's arsenal.
He added that “all of this equipment has been designed and produced by Iran's military industry”.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron on Sunday described Iran’s Government as a “thoroughly malign influence in the region and in the world”.
He told the Sunday Times that Tehran would need to be sent an “incredibly clear message that this escalation will not be tolerated”.
