US President Donald Trump has branded Iran “a nation of terror” as he insisted that American-led intelligence showed the country was behind attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
He rejected counter-claims that Washington was waging an
“Iranophobic” campaign aimed at furthering US interests in the region, insisting: “Iran did do it.”
Mr Trump was speaking to Fox News after the US military released a video it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers, suggesting Tehran wanted to hide evidence of its alleged involvement.
Iran denied any role in Thursday’s attacks, which have again rocked the region amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the States over the unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.
Four other oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port city of Fujairah suffered similar attacks in recent weeks, and Iranian-allied rebels from Yemen have struck US ally Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles.
Mr Trump withdrew the US last year from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran had reached with world powers and recently imposed a series of sanctions now squeezing its economy and cutting deeply into its oil exports.
While Iran maintains it has nothing to do with the recent attacks, its
leaders have repeatedly threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil passes. Iran accused
Iran accused Washington of waging an “Iranophobic campaign”.
However the US responded by releasing copies of a black-and-white US video of what they said were Iranians alongside the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous after its crew abandoned ship and what Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, said was an undetonated explosive on its hull.
It shared photos of the vessel, which showed what appeared to be a conical limpet mine against its side.
In the video, the boat from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard pulls alongside Kokuka Courageous. The Iranians reach up and grab along where the limpet mine could be seen in the photo, and then sail away.
In a statement from its UN mission, Iran accused the US of escalating tensions.
“The US economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security,” the statement said.
- READ MORE: Gulf on brink after oil tanker blasts
In Tokyo, the owner of the Kokuka Courageous said its sailors saw “flying objects” before the attack, suggesting it was not damaged by mines.
The suspected attacks occurred about 25 miles off the southern coast of Iran.
The Front Altair, loaded with naphtha from the United Arab Emirates, radioed for help as its cargo of flammable chemicals caught fire. The Kokuka Courageous, carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, called for help a short time later.
The US Navy sent the USS Bainbridge, which picked up 21 sailors from the Kokuka Courageous, and they stayed overnight on the destroyer, returning to their vessel on Friday to help in it being towed.
Thursday’s attack resembled one in May that targeted four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah. US officials similarly accused Iran of using limpet mines, which are magnetic and attach to a ship’s hull. The mines are designed to disable - but not sink - a vessel.
The UK said it was monitoring the situation closely, but agreed with the US assessment of who was involved.
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