SEOUL, May 27– South Korea said Wednesday that the projectiles that struck the South Korean-operated vessel HMM Namu earlier this month were likely to have been anti-ship missiles developed by Iran.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo told a press briefing that the conclusion was made after an additional investigation into debris from the vessel.
The HMM Namu was attacked twice on May 4 while anchored in waters near the United Arab Emirates inside the Strait of Hormuz, with all 24 crew members aboard confirmed unharmed.
The first warhead failed to explode, while the second detonated, according to the investigation by experts from the Agency for Defense Development and other defense-related institutes.
The shape of the warhead was similar to that of Iran’s Noor or Qader anti-ship missiles, and high explosives in an unexploded state were also identified, Park said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Iranian Ambassador to South Korea Saeed Koozechi denied Iran’s involvement in the attack after meeting with South Korean officials at the foreign ministry in Seoul.
Koozechi told Yonhap that Iran denied all allegations over the matter and was not involved in the incident. He expressed regret over the damage suffered by the South Korean vessel, while saying that the possibility could not be ruled out that such an incident was caused by what he called deceptive operations by the United States.
“What you should know is that the current tensions in the Middle East are due to the U.S. administration and its aggression,” he said, adding that Iran attaches great importance to ensuring ships’ safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
