Tehran calls accusation alarming

DUBAI - Iran said yesteray it was alarming and wrong of the United States to blame Tehran for attacks on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf, after an incident that has raised concerns about a new confrontation in the vital oil shipping route.

Washington released a video that it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind Thursday’s attacks on the Norwegian-owned Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous near the Strait of Hormuz shipping chokepoint. A Dutch firm said it had been appointed to salvage the ships in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, after the attacks that caused a spike in oil prices. About a fifth of the oil consumed globally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, shipped from Gulf energy producers, including Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter.

The US military said blackandwhite footage filmed from a US aircraft showed Guards on one of their patrol boats drawing up to Kokuka Courageous, after blasts struck both vessels, and removing an unexploded limpet mine from its hull. “It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters.

He said the assessment was based on intelligence, the weapons used, expertise required and similar recent attacks. Washington has also blamed Iran or its proxies for attacks on May 12 that crippled four oil tankers in the same area. In addition, it said Tehran was behind May 14 drone strikes on two Saudi oil-pumping stations. Tehran has denied all the charges.

“These accusations are alarming”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, adding that blaming Iran for Thursday’s attacks was “convenient” for US officials. Tehran has said the United States and its regional allies, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were “warmongering” by making accusations against Iran.