Tankers struck near Strait of Hormuz amid Iran-US tensions

[Baghial]

• Raf Sanchez, middle east correspondent
  
• Gareth Davies, live updates

13 JUNE 2019 • 5:16PM

• Oil prices surge after suspected tanker attack
• Two tankers reportedly damaged by explosions
• Iran: 'Suspicious doesn't begin to describe this morning'
• 'Highly likely Iran caused attacks,' says US official
• Almost 50 sailors rescued from tankers
• Analysis: How the Strait of Hormuz became the world's most important choke point

The UN has warned of the danger of “a major confrontation” in the Persian Gulf after two oil tankers were seriously damaged in a suspected torpedo attack near where Iran allegedly sabotaged other oil ships last month.

The explosions, which left one of the oil tankers burning outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway, marked the most serious incident since the White House warned in early May that Iran was plotting attacks in the region.

The US did not officially accuse Iran of responsibility but a US defence official told CBS it was “highly likely” Iranian forces were behind the explosions. Donald Trump was briefed about the attack at the White House.

Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, said “suspicious doesn’t begin to describe” the incident in Gulf of Oman. He previously suggested without evidence that Israel was staging the attacks to undermine Iran.

Pictures on board an oil tanker (left, top right) shows it billowing black smoke, which can be seen from afar (bottom right) CREDIT: FARS NEWS AGENCY/AP
All 44 crew members of the two oil tankers were safely evacuated. The 23 sailors aboard the Norwegian-owned Front Altair were taken to Iran while 21 more on the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous were rescued by a US warship. There did not appear to be any spillage of oil or chemicals.

Thursday’s attack came one month after Iranian forces allegedly used naval mines to blow holes in two oil tankers and two smaller ships off the Emirati port of Fujairah. The US publicly said Iran was behind the attack while Tehran denied responsibility.

The explosions at sea came hours before Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, met with Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, on a diplomatic mission intended to try to ease tensions between Iran and the US.

But the Japanese leader’s efforts appeared to bear little fruit. Ayatollah Khamenei refused to hear any messages from Donald Trump delivered by Mr Abe, the Iranian government said. The ayatollah also said Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons but “America could not do anything” to stop Tehran if it did decide to pursue a nuclear course.

Both tankers were carrying “Japanese-related” cargo, according to Japan’s government. It was not clear if that was a coincidence or if the targeting of the ships was done deliberately to coincide with Mr Abe’s visit to Tehran.

While Iran’s civilian government denies responsibility for any of the attacks, it is possible that the Revolutionary Guard, who answer directly to the supreme leader, are carrying out operations without the government’s knowledge or consent.

The attacks capped six weeks of building tensions between Iran and the US during which time Mr Trump has ordered an aircraft carrier, a bomber taskforce and 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East.

Both the US and Iran say they are not looking for war but Britain and other countries have warned of the danger that the two sides could stumble into an unintended conflict.

Antonio Gutteres, the UN secretary general, condemned the attack and warned that the world cannot afford “a major confrontation in the Gulf region”.

Any fighting near the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway which transports 20 per cent of the world’s oil, would likely cause serious damage to global energy supplies. Oil prices surged 4 per cent in response to Thursday’s explosions.

Analysts said that Iran appeared to be lashing out in order to send a message in response to crippling US sanctions imposed by Mr Trump after he withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“I think Iran is showing that it has teeth,” said Charles Hollis, a former British diplomat in Tehran who is now managing director of the Falanx Assynt consultancy. “It’s a way of showing that if they are backed into a corner they are not without means of causing grief.”

Details of the attack remained sketchy but the crew of the Front Altair reported reported hearing three explosions. Aerial footage from Iranian state television showed a fire raging on the starboard side of the ship while the rear also appeared damaged and blackened.

The ship was “suspected of being hit by a torpedo”, according to Taiwan’s state-owned petrol company.

The second tanker, Kokuka Courageous, was damaged in a "suspected attack" that breached the hull above the water line while on passage from Saudi Arabia to Singapore, according to Bernhard Schulte Ship management.

• Stay with us for live updates on this breaking story

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5:16pm
Analysis: Anti-Iran hawks will not necessarily see the attacks as a bad thing
Roland Oliphant, Senior Foreign Correspondent writes:

Iran hawks in almost certainly blame today's attacks on oil tankers on Iran. But that doesn't mean they will see it as a bad thing.

On the contrary, they are likely to argue that it shows their hard line on Iran is working.

Donald Trump's White House has pursued a campaign of "maximum" economic pressure on Iran since pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal - also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) one year ago.

The idea - championed by US National Security Advisor John Bolton and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu - is to make economic life so difficult that the regime in Tehran is forced to return to accept even more restrictive conditions. And the policy has indeed had a serious impact inside the country.

So when Iran announced it would suspend some of its commitments under the deal in protest last month, it was read in those circles as a signal that Hassan Rouhani's government is feeling the pressure.

And the May 12 attacks on four tankers days later were read as Iran's way of signalling its deep unhappiness with the status quo, without hitting the threshold of all out war.

Today's attacks also appear to fit that pattern: the explosions may have been more spectacular than the May incident, but they also avoided actually sinking the ships or killing anyone.

So expect the hawks to argue that Iran is hitting out because it is desperate, and that now is not the time to blink.

Not everyone will be reassured by such an analysis. After all, no evidence that Iran was involved in either attack has been presented in public.

Instead of speculating about who's behind the tanker attacks, we should step back + recognize that such an event would have been totally unthinkable just 6 months ago. In this sense, who committed the attack matters less than who created the environment.....

 

[Baghial]

THINGS ARE WARMING UP IN STRAIT-OF- HORMUZ--

FOR THE NEXT GREAT GAME---------OF USA AND IBLEES

The big unanswered question is this: with all the tensions and US naval assets in the area, wouldn’t the US have been monitoring any coming and going from Iran’s coastal bases that might threaten its own ships? So doesn’t someone know exactly what happened today?

Whatever the details of this attack in the Gulf of Oman, the essentials are plain enough, as with the rocket attack on the Saudi airport, Fujairah, and the rest of it. #Iran is demonstrating that it can do as it pleases without incurring meaningful reprisals from U.S./allies.