Miraculously, no one was killed.

But the twisted metal, flames and acrid black smoke spewing from two huge tankers hit by multiple explosions in the Gulf of Oman sent markets, politicians and military hawks into a frenzy.

The ships were attacked close to the narrow but strategic Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the Arabian peninsula. 

One vessel was set ablaze and left adrift and both crews were forced to evacuate. The Norway owned Front Altair was hit about 4am UK time. It had been carrying a 75,000-tonne Taiwan-bound cargo of petrochemical feed called naphtha. Its crew of 23 was rescued by a passing boat. 

The Kokuka Courageous suffered hull damage while carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. One crew member suffered injury, while 22 others were taken to safety. A “torpedo” attack or “magnetic mines” have been cited as likely causes. 
 

As the US Fifth Fleet yesterday responded to distress calls, a chill hit both international diplomatic circles and oil markets that are likely to put strain on the price of petrol in domestic markets. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last night blamed Iran for what 
he described as a “blatant assault”. 

At a press conference he said the US had come to the conclusion based on intelligence, the types of weapon used and “sophistication” of the attacks.

“It is the assessment by the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today,” said Mr Pompeo.

“This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.”

No-one had claimed responsibility for the bombings and Iran refuted the allegations by the US. 

The fear now is: does it make military confrontation inevitable? 

Russia called for calm, the UK said it was monitoring the situation.

In the US rhetoric was already moving towards how it might respond as it last night heaped the blame firmly on Iran. And the region’s already high tensions are now dangerously fraught.

Japan’s trade ministry said the two vessels had “Japan-related cargo” as its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, was wrapping up a high-stakes visit in Tehran that had sought to ease tensions between Iran and the United States.

Iran’s foreign minister immediately tweeted that it was “suspicious” that the ships were targeted when Mr Abe was in Tehran.

Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”

The latest incident comes as yet a further escalation in a confrontation between the US and Iran after weeks of tightening American sanctions.

Japan was one of the main buyers of Iranian oil until last month when the US threatened sanctions on anyone propping up the Islamic Republic. 

Mr Abe, fresh from Iran talks had brought a message from the US President. However. Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei did not want to know.  “I do not see Trump as worthy of any message exchange, and I do not have any reply for him, now or in future,” he said, according to Iranian state media.

Speaking before the attacks Mr Abe had warned that any “accidental conflict” that could be sparked amid the heightened US-Iran tensions must be avoided.

His message came just hours after Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi airport, striking its arrivals hall before dawn and wounding 26 people.  

Donald Trump came in to the White House with a long history criticising a Western policy of rapprochement with Iran. He abandoned a 2015 deal under which Iran was allowed to resume mass oil exports in return for concessions on its nuclear programmes.

The latest incident comes after the US alleged that Iran blew up four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah last month. Mr Trump’s hawkish  national security adviser,  John Bolton, said Iran  was  “almost certainly” responsible for those explosions. Iran has denied involvement.  “Who else would you think is doing it?” Mr. Bolton said.

An investigation for the United Nations last week said the May attacks were so sophisticated they could only have been carried out by a state actor - but did not identify a culprit. US ally and Iranian arch-rival Saudi Arabia agrees with Mr Bolton.

Benchmark Brent crude oil spiked at one point by as much as 4% in trading following the reported attack to more than 62 dollars a barrel, highlighting how crucial the area remains to global energy supplies.

A third of all oil traded by sea passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. Any disruption to shipments - as has happened during the Iran-Iraq War and other Gulf conflicts - would raise prices.
Britain has been urging Mr Trump to reconsider his move to pull out of the 2015 Iran deal.

A UK  Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are deeply concerned by reports of explosions and fires on vessels in the Gulf of Oman. We are in contact with local authorities and partners in the region.”

Video images from the Gulf of Oman showed one of the ships half-burnt and billowing a plume of black smoke. It was not clear what caused reported explosions and fires but there was speculation they had been torpedoed.
Commander Joshua Frey, a Fifth Fleet spokesman, said the US navy was assisting the two vessels that he described as being hit in a “reported attack”. 

He did not say how the ships were attacked or who was suspected of being behind the assault.

Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, preliminarily identified one of the vessels involved as the MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker. The vessel was “on fire and adrift”, Dryad added.

The firm that operates the Front Altair told the Associated Press that an explosion was the cause of the fire onboard.

International Tanker Management declined to comment further, saying it is still investigating what caused the explosion.  Its crew of 23 is safe after being evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel, it said.

The second vessel was identified as the Kokuka Courageous.

BSM Ship Management said it sustained hull damage and 21 sailors had been evacuated, with one suffering minor injuries.

Iranian state television said 44 sailors from the two tankers have been transferred to an Iranian port in the southern province of Hormozgan.

A US guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge responded, helped carry out the rescue. 

Jamal Abdi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council, urged Iran, the US and other actors to show restraint while the investigation unfolds.

“The fact that the sabotage occurred amid Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s state visit to Iran underscores that the likely motive of the attackers is to prevent any easing of tensions and block off exit ramps to war,” Mr Abdi told The Herald’s sister paper USA Today.

James Piazza, a Penn State political science professor specializing in the Islamic world, agreed that it was too soon to assign blame for the attack. He told USA TODAY that while hard-line elements in Iran could be involved, Iran-allied rebels in Yemen are also among candidates.

“I think what the alleged attacks underscore is the vulnerability of petroleum resources in the Gulf and, by extension, global economic stability,” Piazza said.

The White House has repeatedly claimed in recent weeks that Iran poses an increased threat to American forces and facilities in the Middle East. 

Less than six weeks ago Trump dispatched the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the region. Iran government spokesman Ali Rabiei expressed “concern and sorrow” over the incident and warned nations not to duped by others that benefit from instability in the region.