An Iranian cargo ship believed to be a base for the Revolutionary Guard has been attacked.
Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed the Tuesday attack on the MV Saviz, which has been anchored in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen for years.
The assault, which is suspected to have been carried out by Israel, came as Iran and world powers sat down in Vienna for the first talks about the US potentially rejoining a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran and others. 'Fortunately, no casualties were reported ... and technical investigations are underway,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement.
'Our country will take all necessary measures through international authorities.'
Iran's semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the Guard, reported the attack late on Tuesday, saying explosives planted on the hull of the Saviz had exploded.
It did not blame anyone for the attack and said Iranian officials likely would offer more information in the coming days.
In an earlier state TV statement, an anchor cited a New York Times story, which quoted an anonymous US official telling the newspaper that Israel informed America it carried out an attack on Tuesday morning on the vessel.In a separate statement, the US military's Central Command only said it was 'aware of media reporting of an incident involving the Saviz in the Red Sea.'
'We can confirm that no U.S. forces were involved in the incident,' the command said. 'We have no additional information to provide.'
Israeli officials declined to comment on the incident when contacted by The Associated Press, as did the Saviz's owner.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought up Iran in a Tuesday speech to his Likud party after being asked to form a government following Israel's recent election.
'We must not go back to the dangerous nuclear deal with Iran, because a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to the state of Israel and a great threat to the security of the entire world,' Netanyahu said.
Israel was not part of the historic nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the US, the UK, Russia, China, France - plus Germany and the European Union.
The ship's long presence in the area has been repeatedly criticised by Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition that is presiding over a bloody intervention into Yemen's years long civil war.
The West and United Nations experts say Iran has provided arms and support to the country's Houthi rebels who are fighting the Saudi-backed government forces.
Iran denies arming the Houthis, though components found in the rebels' weaponry link back to Tehran.
