WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump accused Iran of carrying out drone attacks against Indian ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz, describing the alleged action as "totally unacceptable", while Tehran rejected the charge as "baseless".
Three vessels with Indian crew came under attack off the Oman coast this week. One of them resulted in the death of three Indian seafarers on Wednesday.
"Their (Iran's) totally rebuffed Drone attack last night against Indian Ships leaving the Hormuz Strait is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE," Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
In the same post, Trump also accused Iran of leaking the terms of the peace deal to the media that had nothing to do with the points under discussion.
Iran vehemently rejected Trump's allegation.
"The US president's accusation against Iran regarding an Indian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is simply baseless," the Iranian Embassy in India said in a social media post late Friday night.
"It is an attempt to divert public attention from the brutal fact that the US has attacked 3 Indian vessels in less than a week and killed 3 innocent Indian sailors. That's pathetic!" it said.
Trump's remarks came after India summoned the Charge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in New Delhi to protest against US attacks on commercial ships carrying Indian nationals near the Oman coast.
India has described the attacks on commercial vessels as "deeply worrisome" and it has strongly taken up the matter with the US.