U.S. says Iran attacked two oil tankers
Japanese, Iranian heads were meeting in Tehran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two oil tankers came under a suspected attack Thursday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with one of them set ablaze, and the
U.S. blamed Iran in what it called a campaign of “escalating tensions” in a region crucial to global energy supplies.
The U.S. Navy rushed to assist the stricken vessels in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Iran. The ships’ operators offered no immediate explanation on who or what damaged the Norway-owned MT Front Altair and the Japan-owned Kokuka Courageous. Each was loaded with petroleum products, and the Front Altair burned for hours, sending up a column of thick, black smoke.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. assessment of Iran’s involvement was based in part on intelligence as well as the expertise needed for the operation. It was also based on recent incidents in the region that the U.S. also blamed on Iran, including the use of limpet mines to attack four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah and the bombing of an oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia by Iran-backed fighters in May, he said.
“Taken as a whole these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” Pompeo said. He provided no evidence, gave no specifics about any plans and took no questions.
At the United Nations, the United States asked for closed Security Council consultations on the tanker incidents.
Iran called the timing of Thursday’s incidents suspicious, given that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.
Pompeo noted that Abe had asked Iran to enter into talks with Washington, but Tehran “rejected” the overture.
Iran used mines against oil tankers in 1987 and 1988 in the “Tanker War,” which saw the U.S. Navy escort ships through the region. Regardless of who is responsible, the price of a barrel of benchmark Brent crude increased as much as 4 percent immediately after the attack, showing how critical the region remains to the global economy.