Page 6 - MEOG Week 24

MEOG Commentary MEOG
Tehran claims it’s being framed in tanker incident
iran
aScERTaINING whether a state actor was behind attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on June 13 and the attacks on four tankers not far from the same spot on the map a month ago is now the urgent priority for governments anxious to prevent an outbreak of hostilities between Iran and its foes.
Late on June 13, without pro ering hard evi- dence, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had made up its mind that Iran was responsible, telling a press brie ng: “It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today. is 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 andpro ciencytoactwithsuchahighdegreeof sophistication.”
The latest incidents, which left the Nor- wegian-owned Front altair and the Japa- nese-owned Kokuka courageous seriously damaged, sent Brent crude up by almost 4.5% to almost US$62.64 per barrel and Reuters reported ship brokers as saying that two oil tanker owners, DHT Holdings and Heidmar, had suspended new bookings to the Mid-East Gulf. e Gulf of Oman opens out into the Indian Ocean but before that tankers must negotiate the Strait of Hormuz, through which at least a h of the oil exported worldwide passes. Iranian hardliners have previously warned Iran would blockade the
strategic ‘chokepoint’ to energy exports if the US did not relent on its policy of attempting to force all Iranian oil shipments o the world market, but, despite Pompeo’s statement, that does not mean that all the nger-pointing for the tanker attacks is being aimed at Iran.
as Iranian o cials have warned, there are foreign policy hawks in the US, Israel and Saudi arabia who would be only too pleased to see a chain of events provoke military action against Tehran in their bid to reshape the Iranians’ in u- ence in Middle East a airs.
“suspicious doesn’t begin to describe...”
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the latest attacks as “suspicious” and indicated that the blame lay with a person or group trying to damage his country. “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired thismorning,”hetweeted.
Zarif pointed out that the incidents took place while Japanese PM Shinzo abe was meeting Iran’s supreme leader, ayatollah ali Khamenei, “for extensive and friendly talks”, with abe hav- ing been encouraged by US President Donald Trump to talk to the Iranians over the nuclear deal stalemate between Iran and the US. Since abe’s arrival in Tehran on June 12, the Japanese have emphasised that they were not bring- ing specific messages from Trump, and have said nothing they heard in the rst day of talks implied a breakthrough was imminent.
Stepping up Iran’s denials of involvement in the tanker attacks, an Iranian o cial reportedly
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 24 18•June•2019