Two oil tankers, one from Norway and one from Singapore, were struck today by magnetic Limpet mines in the Gulf of Oman, causing fire and enough damage to evacuate personnel from the disabled vessels. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the attack, citing the May 12 mine attacks in which four tankers were struck in the Persian Gulf. Asking for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. wants the Council to acknowledge the very high probability that Iran was responsible for this and other attacks in international shipping ways. “If there is something the world cannot afford, it is a major confrontation in the Gulf region,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres, worried about escalating conflict with the United States. President Donald Trump dispatched the carrier strike group Abraham Lincoln with B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf May 12.
Trump cancelled U.S. involvement in the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPA], the accord handed Iran nearly $200 billion in sanctions relief and cash in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment program. While denying that they’ve ever worked on an A-bomb, Iran warns Trump and European Union allies that it would once again ramp up its uranium enrichment program. It’s inconsistent that Iran wants sanctions relief, while, at the same time, threatens to resume enriching weapons’ grade uranium. Iran can’t have it both ways: Claiming it’s not working on an A-bomb, while, simultaneously, threatening to ramp up uranium production. Pompeo stated for the record t hat U.S. intel agencies have all the proof needed to tie the Gulf of
Oman bombings to Tehran. Trump has played a wait-and-see approach to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visiting the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Trump hoped that Abe would deliver a message to Khaemenei that Iran’s aggression in the Persian Gulf would not be tolerated. Meeting to Abe, Khamenei thought he could get Japan to violate U.S. sanctions to buy cheap Iranian oil. Abe’s mission visiting Japan had less to do with oil and more to do with keeping the Persian Gulf and Strait of Homuz safe for international shipping. Today’s attack in the Gulf of Oman raises concerns about Iran’s role in the two explosions. “Iran remains the most significant threat to regional peace and security, engaged in numerous malign activities in the region,” said Acting U.N. Amb. Jonathan Cohen. Today’s mine attacks raise the stakes in the Persian Gulf, where Iran thinks it can get away with rogue activity. Sending the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf was supposed to get Iran to stop its malign activities.
Hitting a Norwegian-owned and Singapore-owned tankers today with three explosions linked to planted Limpet mines create havoc in world oil markets. Oil prices jumped 2% today on global fears of potential confrontation with Iran and the U.S. Only a day earlier, Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck Saudi Arabia’s Abha Airport with a guided missile, something obtained from Tehran. Taken together the Limpet-mine attacks and missile strike on Saudi Arabia exposes Iran’s aggressive behavior. Calling the attacks “dangerous developments,” Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged Iran to stop its aggression. Injuring 26 in the missile attack, Saudi’s Defense Minister Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman swore retaliation for the latest missile strike on the Kingdom. “Some parties in the region are trying to instigate fires in our region and we must be aware of that,” said Gheit told the Security Council.
No country in the Persian Gulf has the resources, technology and track record to attack civilian shipping in the international waterways other than Iran. While Pompeo fingered Iran, other Gulf States are more reluctant to name the culprits. Gheit urged the Security Council to “act against those responsible to maintain security and stability in the region,” without naming Iran. Reviewing last month’s attacks on four tankers, two Saudi, one Norwegian and one Emirates, the UAE said last week that a “state actor” was the only one capable of launching such attacks. Without naming Iran, the UAE pointed at Tehran, specifically the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, for staging the attacks. When Trump designated the IRGC at a terror group April 8, Iran stepped up its covert malign activity. More Limpet mines, predator drone attacks and missile strikes have put a target on Iran’s back.
Presenting the best evidence in the Security Counsel today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left little doubt that Iran was responsible for the latest tanker bombings. Identifying Iranian-made Limpet mines stuck to the tankers, the U.S. wants the Security Council to condemn egregious Iranian acts against international shipping in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. U.S. officials believe Iran commissioned swift boats in the Gulf to have divers attach Limpet mines to the hulls of the oil tankers. Iran’s swift boats in the Gulf armed with surface-to-air missiles prompted Trump to send the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln to the region. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said, “there’s no doubt” that Iran was the bad actor in the Gulf. Iran can’t stop itself creating terror in the Gulf, any place where it can implement a strategy of intimidation to get Trump to reverse his sanctions, something Tehran calls “economic war.”
