Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged that Iran attacked three merchant vessels carrying Indian crew members off the Oman coast this week, a charge Tehran firmly rejected as "baseless." The attacks resulted in the deaths of three Indian seafarers on June 10, 2026, when the Palau-flagged MT Settebello was struck by U.S. forces, marking the deadliest incident in a series of maritime assaults that have killed Indian sailors and intensified tensions in the Gulf of Oman.

Three vessels with Indian crew came under attack off Oman this week: the Palau-flagged oil tanker Marivex carrying 24 Indian seafarers was disabled by U.S. forces on June 8 with all crew rescued; the Palau-flagged MT Settebello with 24 Indian crew was struck on June 10, killing three sailors identified as Aditya Sharma (Deck Cadet), Shivanand Chaurasia (Engine Fitter), and Patanala Suresh (Chief Engineer); and the Guinea-Bissau-flagged bitumen tanker MT Jalveer with 20 Indian crew was targeted on June 12 from Oman's Shinas port. Trump claimed Iran was responsible for all three attacks, asserting that Tehran orchestrated the maritime violence targeting commercial vessels with Indian personnel.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed Trump's allegations as "purely conjectural" and "baseless," emphasizing that Iran has not made any final decision on agreements with the U.S. and will not compromise on its "red lines" during negotiations. Baghaei stated that "from the beginning, the status of negotiations was clear to us, and a large portion of the text had already been finalised," but accused the Americans of continuously changing their positions. The deaths are the first reported since the U.S. blockade of Iran-related shipping began on April 13, with operations that have seen the U.S. disable eight ships and turn back more than 100 others.

The conflicting accusations between Washington and Tehran highlight the fog of war surrounding maritime incidents in the Gulf of Oman, where both nations have accused each other of aggression. While Trump blames Iran for attacking Indian vessels, Tehran maintains the allegations are baseless and continues to deny involvement, leaving the true cause of the deadly attacks on merchant ships with Indian crew unresolved.