US Navy assists 2 oil tankers damaged in tense Middle East waterway, oil prices surge

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Bradford Betz | Fox News


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Two oil tankers were damaged in a suspected attack off the Gulf of Oman early Thursday, according to multiple reports.

The U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet told Reuters it was assisting two tankers in the Gulf of Oman after receiving two distress calls. Details of the incident were unclear, but one of the operators made an unconfirmed report that a torpedo had hit its ship, Reuters reported.

"We are aware of the reported attack on tankers in the Gulf of Oman. U.S. Naval Forces in the region received two separate distress calls at 6:12 a.m. local time and a second one at 7:00 a.m.,'' Joshua Frey of the Fifth Fleet said. The Fleet did not blame anyone for the attack.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations -- an arm of the British Navy -- had put out an alert earlier and urged "extreme caution" amid U.S.-Iran tensions.

The incident comes as Iranian media claimed — without offering any evidence — that two oil tankers had been targeted in the area.

The area is near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic route through which 20 percent of global oil consumption passes from Middle East producers. Benchmark Brent crude, in apparent reaction to the incident, rose its prices by 3.4% on Thursday.

Dryad Global, a maritime intelligence firm, identified one of the vessels involved as the MT Front Altair a Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker. The vessel was "on fire and adrift," Dryad added.

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International Tanker Management, which operates the MT Front Altair said an explosion had caused a fire onboard. The firm told the Associated Press the incident is still being investigated and it was unclear what caused the explosion. Its 23 crew members were evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai Vessel and are now safe, the firm said.

The other vessel, the Panama-flagged Kokuka Courageous, sustained damage on its hull starboard side, said BSM Ship Management. 21 sailors were evacuated, and one was slightly injured, four shipping and trade sources said.

Iranian state television reported that 44 sailors were transferred to an Iranian port in the southern province of Hormozgan.

Thursday's incident comes a month after the U.S. accused Iran of attacking ships off the coast of United Arab Emirates.

The timing of Thursday's incident was especially sensitive as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting Iran as an interlocutor for President Donald Trump to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.

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On Wednesday, after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Abe warned that any "accidental conflict" amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. must be avoided at all costs.

While meeting with Abe on Thursday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that while Tehran doesn't want an atomic bomb, "America could not do anything" to stop Iran if it did.

Khamenei was quoted earlier saying that Iran "will in no way repeat" negotiations with the U.S. amid tension over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

Khamenei's official website quoted him as telling Abe: "I don't regard Trump as deserving any exchange of messages and have no response for him and will give no response."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

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[Goofy]

:pirate:

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm sorry Abe, but we don't need an interlocutor with Iran. We need to wipe the regime controlling Iran out of existence.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Let them accidentally (or even purposely) target a US warship in the gulf and then see what happens.

[Godfather]

I'm so unsure what to believe here.

n one hand this was their signature in the early 80's and Iran has been increasingly aggressive via Houthi proxies lately...

But on the other hand, after Iraq at the turn of this century, I don't know why we should take the government's word for it immediately. I don't bust out the tin foil hat often but this one should raise some questions. What hard evidence do we have from Pompeo aside from saying Iran planted these mines because their intelligence says so? The explanation for Iranian rational is obvious: raising oil prices... but Iran has the US and Israel just ITCHING for a reason to destroy them. So, they torpedo or mine tankers, including a Japanese tanker, while Japan's PM is in the country? That's bonkers. Iran's leadership is fundamentalist Islamic and full of 'destroy the West' rhetoric, but the fact is that they are still a relatively rational state actor who wants to preserve their nation. And while I'm drawing parallels to Iraq, perhaps it's worth while to consider if the UAE/Saudis had anything to do with this? It's their type of state craft too... The same Saudi Sec State who denied the Khashoggi assassination is denying Saudi involvement and saying Iran wants a war too - now that's a stretch to even point out, but I can certainly see why people aren't going to buy this was Iran right away.

I'm not sure what I believe.

[Godfather]

Let them accidentally (or even purposely) target a US warship in the gulf and then see what happens.


I'm sorry Abe, but we don't need an interlocutor with Iran. We need to wipe the regime controlling Iran out of existence.

I'm not sure how much of this is in jest, but I certainly don't monger for war with Iran. Fuck this Globalist shit. Sanction them, encourage their citizens to rise up (who largely don't approve of their government, but also don't want the US to destroy their country), but please no war. Yes I understand they're a threat, yes I know their regime's rhetoric is insane, but if it comes to war it won't be any of us who fight it. Aside from God knows how many dead American and allied kids, aside from the fact that Iran has nuclear weapons... destabilizing Iran will have consequences far worse than Iraq and the consequential rise of ISIS has had. Iran is a fortress, it's terrain is going to be extremely difficult to fight in if/when it turns to a guerilla war. This would not end for decades. Like Powell said: You break it, you buy it. You don't just get to walk away once you topple a regime, not in a country of 81 million.

I sincerely pray the President doesn't go for this John Bolton bullshit. The economy is growing, your President is working to restore your trust in the judicial system, and fight fires at home. War in Iran will break that, and it would become the sole campaign topic that could very well unite the Left - which I'm presuming most of you do not wish to see.