Iran accuses US of attacking rescue boats

The strikes on the Naji-15 and Naji-16 off Hormozgan province are a war crime, a senior diplomat told the UN Iran has formally accused the US of deliberately striking two of its search-and-rescue vessels in the Persian Gulf, calling the attack a war crime. The accusation comes as the US maintains a blockade of Iranian ports and continues to attack the Iranian Navy.The charges were made public in the letter on Friday, sent by Gholamhossein Darzi, Iran’s deputy envoy to the UN, to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the UN Security Council president, International Maritime Organization chief Arsenio Dominguez, and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.Darzi said the Naji-15 and Naji-16 were struck in the early hours of Thursday off the coast of Hormozgan Province while they were engaged “exclusively” in search-and-rescue duties, sustaining significant damage. The diplomat did not mention any casualties. “The deliberate targeting of vessels exclusively assigned to maritime search-and-rescue operations constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the international law of the sea”, Darzi said, as cited by Press TV. He added that their...