TEHRAN - Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces, said on Thursday that Iran will “definitely” respond to a recent attack on one of its merchant ships in the strategic Red Sea.

Iran’s response to the attack on the Saviz ship will come once the source of the assault is uncovered, General Shekarchi remarked.

"We need to ascertain the source of the incident. If we uncover the source of the attack on the ship, we will definitely respond, we will never be silent,” Shekarchi told the Russian Sputnik news agency.

“The ship was targeted and now different things may have happened to the ship, but we cannot take a decision on what we are going to do until after our investigations are concluded with utmost accuracy,” the senior spokesman pointed out.

He also said Iran suspected Israel and the U.S. were linked to the attack, stressing that Washington is undoubtedly involved in any attempt to undermine the Islamic Republic.

The Saviz ship was struck by a blast at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday near the coast of Djibouti and sustained minor damage.

PA/PA