Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied any connection to the attack on HMM's Nammu tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, saying, "We also have questions" about who carried out the strike.
According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency on Tuesday (local time), Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, "We also have questions about which actor in the region caused this incident," when asked about the previous day's phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and remarks regarding the Nammu.
"The question (of who attacked the Nammu) was raised from the early stages of the incident, and we will investigate it just like every other incident occurring in this region," he stressed.
Iran also raised the possibility of a "false flag operation," a tactic in which an actor conceals its identity and stages an attack to appear as if carried out by an enemy or third country to gain a strategic advantage. "All countries must recognize that some forces in the region will stop at nothing to escalate instability," Baghaei said. "False flag operations should not be underestimated or dismissed as merely theoretical, because they have occurred many times in the past."
Baghaei did not specify who would be behind such an operation if one had taken place, but Iran has typically pointed to Israel as the orchestrator of similar operations.
Iran also emphasized its good relations with South Korea. Baghaei said the previous day's call between Cho and Araghchi was "the third or fourth call within two months," explaining, "We maintain friendly mutual relations with South Korea, and South Korea is a country with particular concerns regarding maritime safety. We have continued mutual consultations on this matter."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also addressed the call with Cho through its Telegram channel, though the Nammu was not mentioned there. The ministry said, "Minister Araghchi explained the current situation in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz," adding that he noted "the instability imposed on the Middle East region and its global consequences are the result of acts of aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel), and the international community must hold them accountable."
South Korea's Foreign Ministry previously stated that during the call, Cho informed Araghchi that the government is conducting further investigation into the Nammu attack and requested Iran's position on the facts of the matter.
