India again summons US diplomat, lodges protest over attacks on vessels off Oman

NEW DELHI: India on Friday summoned a US diplomat in New Delhi for the second time in a week to protest attacks on vessels off the coast of Oman amid the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, official sources told Anadolu.

Jason Meeks, the charge d’Affaires of the US diplomatic mission, was summoned to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to protest attacks on commercial vessels, the sources said.

On Thursday, the Indian government said that at least three Indians were killed after US forces targeted the vessels off the coast of Oman.

Previously, New Delhi had summoned Meeks on Wednesday to protest the attacks.

An Indian External Affairs Ministry official said Thursday that the US Navy launched attacks on three vessels that carried Indians off the coast of Oman.

All the vessels were foreign-flagged but carried Indian seamen.

According to the US Central Command, it disabled Guinea-Bissau-flagged M/T Jalveer and Palau-flagged tankers M/T Marivex and M/T Settebello for trying to transport Iranian oil this week.

CENTCOM has said American forces have disabled nine non-compliant vessels, redirected 135 ships that complied, and allowed 42 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass since initiating the blockade on April 13.

While Iran has imposed its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the US has locked Iranian ports since April 13 amid the war, which began on February 28.