{"id":188287,"date":"2019-05-13T06:48:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T06:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188287"},"modified":"2019-05-15T06:02:01","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T06:02:01","slug":"saudi-oil-tankers-show-significant-damage-after-sabotage-attack-says-riyadh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188287","title":{"rendered":"Saudi oil tankers show ‘significant damage’ after sabotage attack, says Riyadh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction \u2013 May 13, 2019<\/h1>\n

It is still unclear exactly what happened with the oil tankers. However, there has been speculation<\/a><\/span> that whatever happened was the result of a false flag operations that was originally intended to frame Iran for whatever happened.<\/h5>\n
Somewhere along the line however, something went wrong. As a result the reports remain entirely unsubstantiated.<\/h5>\n

Saudi oil tankers show ‘significant damage’ after sabotage attack, says Riyadh<\/h2>\n

The Guardian \u2013 May 13, 2019<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Straits of Hormuz. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Two Saudi oil tankers have suffered \u201csignificant damage\u201d in an apparent sabotage attack off the coast of Fujairah, part of the United Arab Emirates<\/a>, the Saudi energy minister has said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reported incident \u2013 which could threaten the security of global oil supplies \u2013 comes after the US warned ships that \u201cIran or its proxies\u201d could be targeting maritime traffic in the region, prompting the US to send an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bomber<\/strong><\/span>s<\/a> to the Persian Gulf.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the two vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil bound for customers in the US, state news agency SPA reported. The attack did not lead to any casualties or an oil spill but caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels, said Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Sunday, the UAE foreign ministry said four commercial vessels were targeted by \u201csabotage operations\u201d near its territorial waters but gave no details of the nature of the sabotage. Hours later, Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired false reports of explosions at a nearby Emirati port.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tensions have risen in the year since Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, restoring American sanctions that have pushed Iran\u2019s economy into crisis. Last week, Iran warned it would begin enriching uranium at higher levels in 60 days if world powers failed to negotiate new terms for the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The statement from the UAE\u2019s foreign ministry put the commercial ships near the country\u2019s territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, east of the port of Fujairah. It said it was investigating the incident \u201cin cooperation with local and international bodies\u201d. It said there were \u201cno injuries or fatalities on board the vessels\u201d and \u201cno spillage of harmful chemicals or fuel\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The US Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet, which oversees the region, did not immediately offer comment on the incident. Emirati officials declined to elaborate while their investigation is ongoing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign ministry spokesman called the incidents \u201cworrisome and dreadful\u201d, and asked for an investigation into the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier on Sunday, Lebanon\u2019s pro-Iran satellite channel Al-Mayadeen, quoting \u201cGulf sources\u201d falsely reported that a series of explosions had struck Fujairah\u2019s port. State and semi-official media in Iran picked up the report from Al-Mayadeen, which later published the names of vessels it claimed were involved in the incident.<\/span><\/p>\n

Associated Press, after speaking to Emirati officials and local witnesses, found the report about explosions at the port to be unsubstantiated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fujairah\u2019s port is about 85 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of all oil at sea is traded. The facility handles oil for shipping, as well as general and bulk cargo. It is seen as strategically located, serving shipping routes in the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reported sabotage incident came after the US Maritime Administration warned on Thursday that Iran could target commercial sea traffic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince early May, there is an increased possibility that Iran and\/or its regional proxies could take action against US and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure, after recently threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d the warning read. \u201cIran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or US military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, or the Persian Gulf.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was unclear if that was the same perceived threat that prompted the White House to order the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region on 4 May.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vessels reportedly damaged after warnings that Iran or its proxies could try to target shipping in region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[88,58,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-false-flag-attacks","category-Current_Affairs","category-Iran"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188287"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188291,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188287\/revisions\/188291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}