Israel accused on Friday Iran of having carried out an attack off Oman on a tanker managed by an Israeli-owned company and said a harsh response was needed.
In a statement, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he had told Britain's foreign secretary of the need for a tough response to the attack in which two crew people, one British and the other Romanian, was killed.
"Iran is not just an Israeli problem, but an exporter of terrorism, destruction and instability that harms us all. The world must not be silent in the face of Iranian terrorism that also harms freedom of shipping," Lapid said in the statement.
The United States is deeply concerned about reports of an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off Oman, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said, and is working with international partners to establish the facts surrounding the incident.
"We are also deeply concerned by the reports and are monitoring the situation closely," State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said at a regular news briefing.
