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The suspected attack on two oil tankers off the Gulf of Oman early Thursday came after U.S. officials’ warnings that Iran poses an “imminent” risk in the region.
It remains unclear the exact cause of the damage to the two oil tankers, though the incident occurred almost exactly a month after four ships, including two Saudi tankers, were damaged near the Strait of Hormuz, a 30 miles wide sea passage where over 90 percent of oil exports from the Persian Gulf passes every day. The U.S. military claimed the previous attack was executed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), though Tehran has denied the charges and instead accused the U.S. of warmongering.
2 OIL TANKERS DAMAGED IN SUSPECTED ATTACK IN THE GULF OF OMAN, CREW EVACUATED
Details of the latest incidents in the Strait of Hormuz were unclear, but one of the operators claimed that its ship had been hit by a torpedo, Reuters reported.
Other experts say the images from the scene suggest mines rather than torpedoes may have damaged the oil tankers. Whether it be a torpedo or mines, Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security for BIMCO, told the Associated Press that the incident brings the region closer to an armed conflict.
“The shipping industry views this as an escalation of the situation, and we are just about as close to a conflict without there being an actual armed conflict, so the tensions are very high,” he said.
“The shipping industry views this as an escalation of the situation, and we are just about as close to a conflict without there being an actual armed conflict, so the tensions are very high.”
Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif said of the latest incident: “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning”.
But U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that the Iranian regime is posing a credible threat in the Middle East, prompting the Trump administration to beef up security in the region in form of additional bombers and troops.
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of American forces in the Middle East, warned during a recent trip to the region of an unspecified “imminent” threat from Iran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, meanwhile, said last month during a surprise visit to Iraq that threats from Iran are “specific” and imminent.”
Back in May, the U.S. military was put on alert after reports that Iranian forces loaded missiles into launchers on two Iranian commercial boats sailing around the Persian Gulf, according to the Wall Street Journal. For two weeks, the U.S. shadowed the ships as the tensions continued to rise, according to the report. The ships eventually came back to a harbor and unloaded the rockets, Iranian officials said
“The best way to describe them is a covert, deniable first-strike weapon. The conversion of a merchant ship for an attack in and of itself is a very provocative act.”
“The best way to describe them is a covert, deniable first-strike weapon,” a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence told the newspaper. “The conversion of a merchant ship for an attack in and of itself is a very provocative act.”
Zarif fired back against criticism at the time, saying that the regime had the to right self-defense. “We have a right to defend ourselves, so if we put missiles on our boats, it is our right,” he told ABC News on Sunday.
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One of the vessels involved in the Thursday incident was identified as the MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged but Norwegian-owned crude oil tanker carrying naphtha, a flammable petrochemical product, to Japan. The Front Altair came from Ruwais in the UAE, a loading point for the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co..
International Tanker Management, which operates the MT Front Altair said an explosion had caused a fire onboard. The firm told the Associated Press the incident is still being investigated and it was unclear what caused the explosion. Its 23 crew members were evacuated by the nearby South Korean-based Hyundai Dubai Vessel and are now safe, the firm said.
The other tanker was identified as the Kokuka Courageous. BSM Ship Management, the operator, said it sustained hull damage and 21 sailors had been evacuated, with one suffering minor injuries.
The vessel came from Mesaieed, Qatar, and Jubail, Saudi Arabia, carrying methanol, a chemical compound used in a variety of products.
The tensions between the U.S. and Iran has reached a fever pitch and the diplomatic efforts to defuse the situation tend to hit a wall. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting Iran this week and is expected to try to de-escalate tensions between Tehran and Washington, though any significant breakthrough is unlikely.
Yet Abe’s visit coincided with the Iran-backed Houthi rebel attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abha regional airport that reportedly wounded 26 people.
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An oil tanker is on fire in the sea of Oman, Thursday, June 13, 2019. Two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked on Thursday, an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the U.S. Navy rushed to assist amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
(AP Photo/ISNA)
The U.S. was put on alert amid intelligence reports that indicated that Iran-backed militias in Iraq are moving the missiles close to American bases. This prompted the U.S. to order all non-essential personnel to leave the U.S. Embassy and consulate in Iraq.
President Trump, meanwhile, sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the region, along with hundreds more troops to back up the tens of thousands already deployed in the region.
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In the midst of this, Iran is also threatening to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord and resume enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade level on July 7 if European allies fail to offer new terms for the nuclear deal.
Ilan Goldenberg, Middle East Security Director at CNAS (Center for a New American Security), a defense and national security think tank, tweeted Thursday: “I’ve been saying for the past month that threat of war with Iran is overhyped. Not after today. We should be concerned.”
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson, Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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