MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Accusations made by the United States against Iran over the recent incident in the Gulf of Oman are unacceptable, Chairman of the Russian State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky said.
"The stoking of hysteria on the part of the U.S. over the incident in the Gulf of Oman may indicate systematic steps to unbalance the situation surrounding Iran. Washington's so-called video evidence of Tehran's involvement in the attack on the two tankers is quite vague. What once again comes to my mind is the proverbial vial shown by [former U.S. Secretary of State] Colin Powell at the UN Security Council that jumpstarted the operation in Iraq, where no chemical weapons were subsequently found, as well as the numerous fakes and hoaxes in Syria. It's the exact same handwriting, the exact same methods," Slutsky told reporters on Friday.
Slutsky additionally advised "against drawing any hasty conclusions."
"An independent investigation, which has been endorsed by all members of the UN Security Council, needs to be conducted. Only after that will it be possible to say who is to blame and suggest some course of action," he said.
"So far, we see attempts by the U.S. to demonize Iran and undermine the international community's long-running diplomatic efforts to settle the Iranian problem," Slutsky said.
Iran's ultimatum on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action expires on July 7, he said.
"Instead of fueling a negative atmosphere and artificial tensions, it is necessary to continue dialogue aimed at averting the collapse of the nuclear deal and the Iranian side's withdrawal from the NPT [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]. Otherwise, harm could be done to global security," Slutsky said.
Two tankers, owned by Japanese and Norwegian companies, were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. All crewmembers were evacuated from the vessels. The U.S. has blamed Iran for the attack. Tehran, in turn, denies any involvement in the incident.