Iran Responsible for Tanker Attacks in Gulf of Oman - Pompeo
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2019) The United States believes that Iran is behind Thursday's attacks on two tanker vessels in the Gulf of Oman, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a press briefing.
"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," Pompeo said on Thursday.
Pompeo said the US assessment was based on intelligence, weapons used, level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources or proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.
Earlier in the day, two oil tankers, Kokuka Courageous and Front Altair, were hit by explosions in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz. The cause of the incident remains unknown.
Pompeo said the US believes Iran and its surrogates were behind a series of recent incidents in the region, including the May 12 sabotage of four ships in the Gulf of Oman, the May 14 armed drone strike on oil pipelines in Saudi Arabia, the May 19 rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, the May 31 car bomb that targeted US soldiers in Afghanistan, and the June 12 missile strike on a Saudi hospital.
"On April 22, Iran promised the world that it would interrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. It is now working to execute on that promise," Pompeo said.
The United States will continue to use its economic and diplomatic tools to get Iran back to the negotiation table at the right time, he added.
Iran has denied any involvement in the all of the recent attacks, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif earlier on Thursday called the timing of the latest incident "beyond suspicious" because it coincided with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Islamic Republic.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will address the attacks on the two oil tankers during closed consultations on Thursday afternoon, a diplomatic source told Sputnik.