US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a phone call with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that the US side will not tolerate “illegal transportation“ of Iranian oil and attempts to violate the naval blockade of Iran. This was reported by the US State Department.
"The two officials discussed recent events in the Strait of Hormuz. The minister stressed that all merchant ships should immediately obey the orders of the US forces, which are seeking to ensure peace and security in the strait," the foreign ministry statement said.
„He specifically noted that violations of the US blockade and illegal transportation of Iranian oil will not be tolerated,“ the document said.
In the past few days, three ships with Indian nationals on board have been attacked by the US Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. On June 8, 24 Indian crew members of a Palauan-flagged tanker that was attacked by a missile off the coast of Oman were rescued. On June 9, the Palauan-flagged tanker Settebello with 24 Indian sailors on board was attacked by US forces in the Gulf of Oman. 21 crew members were rescued, 3 were killed. On June 11, it was reported that the Guinean-flagged merchant ship MT Jalveer was attacked. A fire broke out on board. All 20 Indian crew members were rescued.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs told the US side that attacks on merchant ships were unacceptable. US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks was summoned to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, where he was strongly protested over the US Navy's continued attacks on ships carrying Indian sailors.