Explosions aboard a pair of oil tankers heightened regional tensions with Iran in an already volatile showdown with Washington and sent energy prices soaring in jittery global markets.
Explosions aboard a pair of oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday heightened regional tensions with Iran in an already volatile showdown with Washington and sent energy prices soaring in jittery global markets.
“These attacks are a threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable escalation of tension by Iran,” Pompeo said. The United States and its Persian Gulf allies, led by Saudi Arabia, have mounted a steady campaign of diplomatic isolation and economic punishment of Iran, which they blame for militancy in the Middle East.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Arab League’s secretary-general, warned there were sides seeking to “inflame the region, and practice a kind of dangerous blackmail of the international community.” Images depicted the Front Altair engulfed in a 15-mile plume of smoke that was captured by NASA satellites; later pictures showed more than a third of the deck scorched, and a video showed a raging fire in the ship’s center.
Possible use of naval mines to attack the tankers was one piece of information that led U.S. intelligence agencies to reach a preliminary conclusion that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the alleged attacks, one of the officials said. The explosions occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a crucial passageway for much of the oil from Gulf states. At its narrowest it measures a mere 21 nautical miles, yet in 2016 it ushered through some 18.5 million barrels of oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Both ships, according to the Japanese government, were carrying “Japan-related” cargo, leading Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to question the timing of Thursday’s apparent attacks.Meanwhile, Abe had brought a message from President Trump to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. “We will defend our interests, but a war with Iran is not in our strategic interest, nor in the best interest of the international community,” said Army Lt. Col. Earl Brown, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East.Early last month, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of ships arrived in waters near the Persian Gulf in response to what U.S. officials said was intelligence suggesting Iran was preparing attacks.
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