“In another brazen violation of Int’l law, Israeli regime now blatantly threatens Iran with military action,” ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.
The MT Mercer Street, managed by prominent Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, was attacked off Oman last week.
A British security guard and a Romanian crew member were killed in what the United States, Britain and the vessel’s operator Zodiac Maritime said appeared to be an Iranian drone strike.
“We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response,” Khatizbadeh said. “Don’t test us,” he warned.
Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel is prepared to militarily engage directly with Iran. Asked in an interview with the Ynet news site whether Israel was ready to strike in Iran if need be, Gantz responded simply, “Yes.”
Israel, he added, is nevertheless focused on an effort to mobilize the international community to rein Tehran in, “because we can’t tag Iran as solely an Israeli problem and absolve the rest of the world from this issue.”
“The world needs to deal with Iran, the region needs to deal with Iran, and Israel also needs to do its part in this situation,” Gantz said.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said his government was “working on enlisting the world” in response to the attack, but warned “we also know how to act alone.”
“The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and, from there, ignite the entire Middle East. That is over,” Bennett said.
Both the United States and Israel have said their intelligence assessments of the July 29 incident concluded that an Iranian drone attacked the ship, charges that Iran denies.
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