Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, the
foreign ministry said on Monday, after the United States, Israel and
Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off
the coast of Oman.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the attack on Thursday in which
two crew members—a Briton and a Romanian—were killed.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with
their allies to respond to the attack on the Mercer Street, a
Liberian-flagged, Japanese-owned petroleum product tanker managed by
Israeli-owned Zodiac Maritime.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the incident
as "clearly an unacceptable and outrageous attack on commercial
shipping".

"Iran should face up to the consequences of what they''ve done,"
Johnson told reporters on Monday.

Britain summoned the Iranian ambassador on Monday. Later, Iran
summoned the British Charge d'' Affaires and Romania''s top envoy in
Tehran over their countries'' "accusations against the Islamic
Republic", Iran''s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"Iran has no hesitation in protecting its security and national
interests and will respond promptly and strongly to any possible
adventure," Iranian state television quoted foreign ministry
spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.

The U.S. Navy, which was escorting the tanker with the USS Ronald
Reagan aircraft carrier, said on Saturday early indications "clearly
pointed" to a drone attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had accused Tehran of "trying
to shirk responsibility" for the attack, and called its
denial "cowardly". Israel''s foreign minister said on Sunday the
incident deserved a harsh response.

Israel will ''settle the score''
Israel Defence Minister Benny Gantz said the attack was an
intensification of what he called Iran''s escalation and accused
Tehran of intending to hurt and kill civilians.

"Israel has a variety of tools and options to defend its citizens,
and we will settle the score with anyone who tries to harm us at the
time and place and in the way that suits us and our security," Gantz
told the Israeli parliament.

An unidentified Iranian official told Iran''s Nournews news agency
earlier that Tehran considered "the threats of Western officials and
the Zionist regime (Israel) to be more of a propaganda gesture".

"And Washington and London will be directly responsible for the
consequences," the official told Nournews, which is close to Iran''s
Supreme National Security Council.

Iran and Israel have exchanged accusations of carrying out attacks
on each other''s vessels in recent months.

Tensions have increased between Iran and Israel since 2018, when
then U.S. President Donald Trump ditched Tehran''s 2015 nuclear deal
with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled
Iran''s economy.

Israel has voiced concerns about efforts by Iran and U.S. President
Joe Biden''s administration to revive the nuclear pact, under which
Iran curbed its sensitive nuclear work in exchange for lifting
sanctions. "In any agreement, should there be one, with Iran, it
must also be based on the removal of its threat on the region," said
Gantz.