BREAKING: Iran's UN Mission says Tehran 'categorically rejects' US claims it was responsible for latest oil tanker incidents.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Latest on Mideast developments amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf region :Iran’s U.N. Mission says the government “categorically rejects” the U.S. claim that it was responsible for the latest incidents against oil tankers which it condemns “in the strongest possible terms.”
Mansour Al-Otaibi’s country holds the council presidency this month. He told reporters after a closed meeting Thursday called by the United States that he wasn’t authorized to make any official statement about the latest attacks.“It is a violation of international law and it’s a criminal act,” Al-Otaibi said.
He said the “litany of incidents ... demonstrate the clear threat that Iran poses to international peace and security.” The officials say the U.S. will reevaluate its presence in the region, but there is not yet a firm plan to protect shipping in the geographic choke point. They advise that a program to provide military escorts of merchant ships under consideration.Kuwait’s foreign minister is calling the suspected attacks on two tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz a threat to international peace and security.
Kuwait’s U.N. Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi told reporters “we have to see how the discussion goes and then we will consider how to move forward on this.”A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command says 21 crew members rescued from the oil tanker Kokuka Courageous are now on board the Navy’s USS Bainbridge following an explosion.
Two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, were damaged in suspected attacks Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, with one adrift and on fire amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.The head of the Arab League is urging the U.N. Security Council to take action against those responsible for the recent targeting of oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf and attacks against Saudi Arabia which he called “dangerous.
The chemical tanker Kokuka Courageous, operated by Kokuka Sangyo Co., was apparently attacked as it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz toward Singapore and Thailand destinations to deliver methanol. Abe, before boarding his flight back to Tokyo, said he frankly told Khamenei that U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t wish to escalate tension in the Middle East. He said it is important for leaders to ease tensions.
Abe is the first sitting Japanese prime minister to visit Tehran since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. He met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.However, Khamenei told Abe: “I don’t regard Trump as deserving any exchange of messages and have no response for him and will give no response.”
Hiroshige Seko, referring to the alleged attacks, says: “It is not a desirable situation for Japan.” He said the government will take all possible measures to ensure stable energy supply. The Seoul-based Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. on Thursday cited crew of its Hyundai Dubai cargo vessel as saying that there were three rounds of explosion sounds at the MT Front Altair before it sent an emergency distress call.A company statement says the 30,000-ton-class Hyundai Dubai vessel sent a lifeboat to rescue MT Front Altair’s 23 crew members before embarking them on the cargo vessel.
Mohammad Javad Zarif made the comment in a tweet on Thursday: “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”Zarif described the talks between Shinzo Abe and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as “extensive and friendly.” Khamenei made the comment on Thursday during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who came to Tehran as an interlocutor for President Donald Trump to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Thursday’s comment came as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was wrapping up a two-day trip to Iran with a mission to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington. The MT Front Altair had been loaded at a port in the Gulf with a petroleum product known as naptha, and was on its way to the Far East. Its crew of 23 is safe after being evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel.
The 5th Fleet said it had sent naval forces to the area to assist the two vessels. One has been identified as the MT Front Altair, a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker.Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has met with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid tension between Iran and United States.
Iranian media claimed — without offering any evidence — that there had been an explosion in the area targeting oil tankers. A private intelligence firm later said an oil tanker was adrift and on fire.
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