John Wright / DOD; public domain, Pentagon 2023 archive crop.
U.S. Central Command accused Iran on Sunday of deliberately attacking civilians in neighboring Gulf countries and civilian mariners at sea. The U.S. military command said the maritime attacks had killed more than 20 people in recent months. That death toll was CENTCOM’s allegation, not an independently verified count supplied with its statement.
The command was answering what it described as a recent public claim by Iran’s foreign minister that Iran had not attacked civilians in neighboring countries. CENTCOM called that claim “false” in a post published Sunday evening.
“Iran has not only intentionally attacked civilian infrastructure, neighborhoods, and other facilities in neighboring Gulf countries, but it has also deliberately attacked civilian mariners at sea,” the command wrote. It said those attacks had killed “more than 20 in recent months.”
Civilian mariners are people who work aboard nonmilitary ships. CENTCOM’s statement did not identify the vessels, list the incidents or explain how it calculated the total.
The command described Iran’s actions as “indiscriminate aggression” and “inexcusable.” Those were the U.S. military’s characterizations. The post did not include an incident-by-incident account that would allow the full claim or the reported toll to be checked from the statement alone.
The statement also did not link to the foreign minister’s remarks or give their date. It summarized the Iranian position before rejecting it, rather than providing a full transcript of that position.
CENTCOM did not announce a new military operation or a timetable for action in the post. Its announcement was a public accusation about previous attacks.
JBizNews Desk | New York
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