“According to our direct links in the Persian Gulf region, no information on new incidents for any merchant ship in the region is confirmed so far,” the mission tweeted on Wednesday, adding, “Misleading the public all around the world for diplomatic gain in New York is not fair game.”
The tweet came in response to conflicting reports which claimed that a security incident has happened for Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess in the Sea of Oman on Tuesday. The Western media outlets claimed that the ship was hijacked by a group of armed men, blaming Iran for the alleged incident without providing any evidence or detail.
Later on Wednesday morning, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a statement that the alleged hijackers have left the vessel and the incident has ended.
Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi reacted to the propaganda on Wednesday morning. “Conflicting reports published by some Western, Zionist, and Saudi outlets regarding maritime insecurity, hijacking ships, and etc. in the regional waters are a sort of psychological warfare and done to prepare the ground for new adventurism.”
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh described as totally suspicious the reports of successive security incidents involving vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, warning against any effort to create a vicious atmosphere to pursue certain political goals.
Tehran has also expressed readiness to help foreign vessels in the region.
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