US, Israel To Work Together To Investigate Attack On Ship

By Arutz-7
Posted on 07/31/21 | News Source: Arutz-7

State Department issues statement on Blinken-Lapid conversation: They agreed to work with the United Kingdom, Romania, and other international partners.

The State Department issued a statement on Saturday following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s conversation with Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

The statement said that the two “discussed the attack on the Mercer Street, a commercial ship which was peacefully transiting through the north Arabian Sea.”

“They agreed to work with the United Kingdom, Romania, and other international partners to investigate the facts, provide support, and consider the appropriate next steps,” added the statement.

The Foreign Ministry released a statement earlier following Lapid’s conversation with Blinken.

"Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke tonight with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the attack on the ship in the Gulf of Oman, joint activity against Iranian terrorism, and the formulation of a real and effective international response to the incident," the Ministry statement read.

"During the weekend, Minister Lapid also spoke with his counterparts in Britain and Romania, to whom he expressed his condolences and discussed the threat posed by an Iran that repeatedly harms innocent civilians. Foreign Ministry staff are working in a long list of the world's capitals to urge condemnation of the incident and arrange an international response," it added.

The statement stressed, "Iran has now murdered two British and Romanian civilians. It repeatedly underestimates Israel's determination and commitment to defending itself and its interests."

Two individuals were killed in Friday’s attack on the Israeli-managed ship off the coast of Oman.

US State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said on Friday that the United States is deeply concerned by the attack.

“We are also deeply concerned by the reports and are monitoring the situation closely,” Porter said at a regular news briefing.