The United States presented evidence of Iran’s involvement in the attack on tankers

The United States accuses Iran of organizing attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, but the Islamic Republic denies all the charges. The United States uses tactics tested on the DPRK, trying to force Tehran to negotiate.

Фото: Depositphotos

What happened in the Gulf of Oman

On the morning of June 13 in the Gulf of Oman, under unexplained circumstances, two tankers were damaged. Kokuka Courageous went under the Panamanian flag, the tanker operator is the Singapore company BSM Ship Management. The ship was carrying methanol for the Japanese company Kokuka Sangyo. The Japanese company reported that in the early morning the tanker was attacked twice in three hours in the emirate of Fujairah. As a result, a fire began in the engine compartment, which was put out by the crew, said Kokuka Sangyo President Yutaka Katada. The crew was on board - 21 is a citizen of the Philippines, all were evacuated onto rescue boats and picked up by a passing ship following in the United Arab Emirates, Kyodo agency reported.

The second tanker, Frontline Altair, was flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, the vessel is owned by the Norwegian company Frontline and carried oil products for Taiwan's state-owned company CPC Corp. According to the shipowner, in the early morning the tanker was allegedly hit by a torpedo. “There were 11 Russians on board, one citizen of Georgia and 11 from the Philippines. They were all safe and without any damage were delivered to Hyundai Dubai [the cargo ship], who responded to their request for help, ”told the press service of the Frontline company 13 June. The company also refuted the news that appeared in the afternoon that the tanker sank. “We can confirm that the vessel did not sink, as mentioned in some reports,” the press service noted.

Not far from the tanker Kokuka was the US Navy destroyer Bainbridge, and after the incident, the US Central Command dispatched another destroyer, Mason, to the area.

Thursday’s attacks are not the first. 12 – May 13 reported four tankers damaged in the exclusive economic zone of the UAE. 13 May Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid Al-Falih said that among these vessels were two Saudi tankers that were attacked by saboteurs off the coast of Fujaira when they were heading for the Persian Gulf. The other two tankers belonged to the UAE and Norway.

Why is Iran suspected

In the evening of June 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of organizing the attacks. In support of the statement by the Secretary of State, a video was published on which, according to the American side, the boat under the control of representatives of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) swims up to Kokuka Courageous and removes an unexploded magnetic mine from the hull. This happened at 4: 10 am local time, as reported by the representative of US Central Command, Bill Urban. Yutaka Katada, June 14, said the ship had been shelled.

At a briefing at the State Department, Pompeo cited a chronology of other attacks, the responsibility for which he placed on the IRGC: on May 12 four commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz attacked, on May 14 the drones attacked two pipelines in Saudi Arabia, on May 19 the rocket fell near the US embassy in Baguia in Saudi Arabia, on May 31 the rocket fell near the US embassy in Baguia in Saudi Arabia, on May XNUMX the rocket fell near the US embassy in Baguia in Saudi Arabia, on May XNUMX the rocket fell near the US embassy in Baguia in Saudi Arabia, on May XNUMX the rocket fell near the US embassy in Bagu in Saudi Arabia, on May XNUMX the rocket fell near the US embassy in Baguia in Saudi Arabia, on May XNUMX the rocket fell near the US embassy in Bagu in Saudi Arabia; and XNUMX in May, a car exploded in Afghanistan - four American servicemen were injured.

Iran, these statements of the United States, like the previous ones, called a lie. “The accusations made by US Secretary of State Pompeo against Iran are alarming,” Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told 14 on June. Blaming Tehran for Pompeo is the easiest solution, he said.

The administration of Donald Trump consistently aggravates the situation around Iran. Trump criticized the Islamic Republic before being elected president, in May last year he withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear program agreement and restored sanctions against Tehran, and in May of this year in Washington stated that countries that did not refuse to buy Iranian oil could be under sanctions . Trump accuses Iran of subversive activities in the Middle East - destabilizing the situation in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, supporting the Hezbollah terrorist movement and developing a missile program.

"While we still have to soberly and carefully evaluate everything, our initial position is unconditional trust in our American allies," commented US Secretary-General Jeremy Hunt on the findings of the United States.

"There is always the possibility that someone is trying to blame the Iranians," said John Alterman of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies to Reuters. There is a strong likelihood that this was an attempt to support Iranian diplomacy by creating the international community feeling that the US-Iran negotiations were urgent, he admitted.

What are the consequences of the incident

One of the first consequences was the rise in oil prices. Brent crude rose by 3,66%, above $ 62 a barrel. WTI futures for July went up by 4,17%, to $ 53,28 per barrel. Oil can still become more expensive if there are problems with shipping in the Persian Gulf region: the Gulf of Oman lies in the way of oil transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of world supplies go.

Given the nature of the statements of the United States, the Europeans are calling not to aggravate the situation. “We have repeatedly repeated that the region does not need further escalation, it does not need destabilization, we urge all parties to show restraint,” said the representative of the European Union’s foreign service. The fact that the world can not afford another war in the Middle East, on Thursday at a meeting of the UN Security Council, said the Secretary General of the organization António Guterres. In the United States, members of the Democratic Party spoke out against aggravation. “A war with Iran would be an unconstitutional affair and a strategic mistake,” said Congressman Ro Hanna.

Iran and the US are also excluding the possibility of military conflict. US policy remains the same - economic and diplomatic efforts to return Iran to the negotiating table.

The US position in tanker incidents is similar to the pressure that Washington exerted on North Korea, said Dmitry Frolovsky, an independent expert on the Middle East. Then Trump also sent warships to the DPRK, this helped to intensify negotiations, but in the case of Iran there is a danger that such tactics will not work, he suggested: “Iran is a more desperate state, and there is a feeling that the Trump administration does not fully understand, who is dealing with. " The probability of a military conflict cannot be ruled out, Frolovsky continued, but this is not in the interests of the White House: another war in the Middle East, but now with a very serious adversary and disastrous consequences. The current situation will aggravate relations between Arab countries, the United States and Iran, but will not lead to a direct collision, suggested Alexey Malashenko, head of research at the Dialogue of Civilizations Institute, in a conversation with RBC.

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