Iran, US trade barbs over Gulf of Oman vessel attacks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — After two oil vessels were targeted near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the United States implored the UN Security Council for Iranian "diplomacy, not terror," while Tehran has offered little to counter allegations that it is behind the attacks.

"The United States will continue its diplomatic and economic efforts to bring Iran to the negotiating table. And Iran should meet us with diplomacy, not with terror, attacks on ships, infrastructure and diplomatic facilities," Jonathan Cohen, the US Acting Permanent Representative to the UN, told reporters after the Council meeting on Thursday evening. 

He reiterated the stance of his boss, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that Iran is solely responsible for the attacks in the commercially strategic international waterway.

"The United States assesses that Iran is responsible for these attacks. No proxy group in the area has the resources or skill to act with this level of sophistication. Iran however, has the weapons, the expertise and the requisite intelligence information to pull this off," Cohen said.

Neighboring Kuwait's Ambassador to the UN Mansour al-Otaibi told reporters after the Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday night that the Security Council unilaterally condemned the incident, but no entity has yet been assigned to conduct an investigation.

"We are really happy to hear that all Council members condemned what happened, and it is a violation of international, and it is a criminal act..." Otaibi, who is the revolving Security Council president for June.

The tiny but oil rich nation did not lay blame on any entity for the attack.

"We would like to see a thorough investigation and like to know who was behind this incident...

No evidence was discussed during the Security Council meeting, added the Kuwaiti.

"Everybody wants an impartial and objective investigation, but there were no suggestions or decisions by the Council to designate any entity to conduct this investigation," he said.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement applauded the efforts of its rescue teams in the area.

"The responsibility of maintaining the security of the Strait of Hormuz is on Islamic Republic of Iran and we showed that in the quickest time possible we went to the aid of the sailors of the ships in trouble and rescued them," Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Friday.

Pompeo had called it an "insult" to Japan that the attack occurred on the same day that Japanese PM Shinzo Abe was conducting diplomatic talks with Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Khamenei dismissed Abe’s offers to negotiate with a US administration headed by President Donald Trump, according to a statement published on the supreme leader’s website.

“I do not see the person of Trump worthy of exchanging any messages and I have no response for him and will not have any.”

Mousavi also followed the lead of the Supreme Leader.

"It appears that for Mr. Pompeo and other American statesmen, accusing Iran in this suspicious and unfortunate incident for the tankers is the easiest thing. While the Prime Minister of Japan is in meeting with the No. 1 person in the Islamic Republic of Iran, what hidden hands want to influence these efforts and who benefits from them?" posited Mousavi.

Mousavi flatly dismissed allegations that Iran had a role in the attacks.

"Mr. Pompeo this skepticism is not only a joke or funny but it is worrying and threatening," he added.

However, early on Friday the US military released video and images it claims to show show Iran forces in a speed boat approaching a tanker and removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the two ships, the Kokuka Courageous. 

 

Video: US Central Command

The grainy aerial video show a small boat approaching what appears to be an oil tanker and trolling alongside the ship for a less than a minute before the smaller boat leaves. The photos, taken at a distance, show triangular shaped objects on a similar-looking ship with subsequent images showing them missing.

Cpt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement the attacks "are a clear threat to international freedom of navigation and freedom of commerce.

"The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests."

Photos: US Central Command

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said late Thursday night before departing on a trip to Kyrgyzstan that the United States has begun a war against a nation and in particular is targeting the vulnerable groups.

"The event [in Bishkek] is of importance since it discusses security affairs in the region and other regional issues," he said, according to Iran's state-run IRNA. 

Iranian media, Tasnim which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), released photos on Thursday purportedly of 23 crew members of the Front Altair. The sailors were said to be at Jask Port in Hormuzgan province that borders the Strait of Hormuz and sits opposite of Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. 

In a similar incident on May 12, four vessels including two Saudi oil tankers were damaged in incidents which were described as “sabotage attacks.” US National Security Advisor John Bolton has alleged Iran was behind those attacks.