US says video shows Iran removing mine from stricken tanker

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military released a video Friday it said showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Tehran wanted to hide evidence of its alleged involvement.

Iran denied any role in Thursday's apparent attacks, which have again roiled the Persian Gulf amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

Four other oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port city of Fujairah suffered similar attacks in recent weeks, and Iranian-allied rebels from Yemen have struck U.S. ally Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles.

President Donald Trump withdrew America last year from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran reached with world powers and recently imposed a series of sanctions now squeezing its beleaguered economy and cutting deeply into its oil exports. While Iran maintains it has nothing to do with the recent attacks, its leaders repeatedly have threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows.

Iran accused Washington of waging an "Iranophobic campaign" against it, while Trump countered that the country was "a nation of terror."

"Iran did do it," he said of the attack, in remarks Friday morning to "Fox & Friends."

The black-and-white U.S. video of the Iranians alongside the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous came after its crew abandoned ship after seeing the undetonated explosive on its hull, said Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Central Command. It separately shared photos of the vessel, which showed what appeared to be a conical limpet mine against its side.

In the video, the boat from Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard pulls alongside Kokuka Courageous at 4:10 p.m. Thursday. The Iranians reach up and grab along where the limpet mine could be seen in the photo. They then sail away.

Analysts say Iran, if involved, wouldn't want investigators to find an unexploded mine because they could check its serial numbers and other attributes to trace it.

"The U.S. and the international community stand ready to defend our interests, including the freedom of navigation," Urban said in a statement. "The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests."

In a statement from its U.N. mission, Iran accused the U.S. of escalating tensions.

"The U.S. economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security," the statement said.

In Tokyo, the owner of the Kokuka Courageous said its sailors saw "flying objects" before the attack, suggesting it wasn't damaged by mines. Company president Yutaka Katada offered no evidence for his claim, which contradicted the U.S. military account.

Katada also said crew members saw an Iranian naval ship nearby, but did not specify whether this was before or after the attacks.

The suspected attacks occurred at dawn Thursday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the southern coast of Iran. The Front Altair, loaded with naphtha from the United Arab Emirates, radioed for help as its cargo of flammable chemicals caught fire. The Kokuka Courageous, carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, called for help a short time later. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Latest on Mideast developments amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf region (all times local to Dubai):

President Donald Trump is calling Iran "a nation of terror," saying Iran's responsibility for attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman was "exposed" by the United States.

Calling into "Fox & Friends" on Friday, Trump says of the Thursday attacks, "Iran did do it." He cites video purporting to show an Iranian boat removing what the U.S. says is an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.

Iran has denied any role in the attacks.

Trump cites no new potential U.S. responses, saying the U.S. has been "very tough on sanctions." He says, "They've been told in very strong terms we want to get them back to the table."

Trump is warning Iran not to close off the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying if it is closed it won't be closed for long.

RELATED: WATCH: US says video shows Iran removing mine from oil tanker in Persian Gulf

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has called for closer cooperation between Tehran and Moscow amid rising regional tensions.

Speaking Friday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a summit of a regional security grouping in Kyrgyzstan that includes Russia, China and India among others, Rouhani said "the situation in the region requires stronger interaction between our nations."

The Iranian leader added that "external pressure and foreign sanctions" have made such cooperation "even more acute."

Putin hailed economic and security ties between Russia and Iran, noting their joint action in Syria.

Regional tensions escalated over suspected attacks Thursday on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which the U.S. blamed on Iran. Tehran has rejected the U.S. accusations.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet says the 21 sailors it hosted overnight from one of the oil tankers hit in an apparent attack in the Gulf of Oman have returned to their vessel.

Cmdr. Joshua Frey said on Friday that the sailors were back on the Kokuka Courageous to assist in it being towed.

Frey says the USS Bainbridge remains nearby and is in close contact with the vessel.

The Dutch company Boskalis says it has been appointed to salvage the two tankers in the suspected attacks in the Gulf of Oman, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Royal Boskalis Westminster said on Friday that the insurers of the two tankers, the Front Altair and the Kokuka Courageous, have appointed its subsidiary SMIT Salvage to salvage both vessels and their cargoes.

Boskalis says the situation of the Front Altair, which was carrying a petroleum product known as naptha, "is still worrisome." It does not elaborate, but adds that the crew left the ship following the suspected attack on Thursday and the fire on board has been extinguished.

The company says that the Kokuka Courageous, carrying the chemical compound methanol, is in a stable condition and being towed to a port in the Gulf region.

The German government is calling for an investigation into the "extraordinarily worrying" suspected attacks on two tankers near the Strait of Hormuz.

It also says it has no information on who carried them out and isn't saying who it believes was responsible.

Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, told reporters in Berlin on Friday that a "spiral of escalation" must be avoided.

She says that "what's important now is to continue investigating the background of the incidents in depth," and added that Germany "is in contact with all our partners" on the matter.

The U.S. military has released a video it says shows Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers. Iran denies being involved.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has assailed the Trump administration, accusing it of radicalizing the situation in the Mideast and pursuing an aggressive policy against his country.

Rouhani spoke at a regional summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek on Friday, a day after the suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz that the U.S. has blamed on Iran.

Rouhani made no mention of the tankers but lashed out at Washington for walking out of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposing sanctions on Tehran.

Rouhani says the U.S. is "using all opportunities for radicalizing the situation, which undermines the stability not only in our region but in the whole world."

He added that America has been "carrying out an aggressive policy and posing a serious threat to regional stability."

China is urging all parties to exercise restraint after the suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that countries should "avoid further escalation of tensions."

Iran has rejected a U.S. accusation against Tehran over Thursday's suspected attacks, which hit one Norwegian-owned ship and one Japanese-owned ship off the coast of Iran. Each vessel was loaded with petroleum products, and one was set ablaze.

Geng says that a "war in the Gulf region of the Middle East is something that no one wants to see."

China is the world's largest buyer of Iranian oil and has maintained its support for the Iran nuclear deal.

Geng said that "China will continue to protect its energy security" and oppose unilateral sanctions.

Japan's defense minister says he has no intention of sending Japanese troops to respond to attacks on a Japanese-operated oil tanker in the Middle East.

Takeshi Iwaya told reporters at a Friday news conference that the situation is not considered an imminent threat to Japan.

His remarks came after a Japanese-operated tanker headed to Singapore was attacked on Thursday while traveling near the Strait of Hormuz, just as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was wrapping up his high-stakes visit in Tehran to help de-escalate regional tension.

All 21 Filipino crewmembers pf the vessel were rescued and were now on a U.S. warship.

Iwaya says Japan doesn't think the so-called "Self-Defense Force has a necessarily role to play at this point and we don't plan to send them to the Strait of Hormuz region in response to the attacks."

The Japanese ship operator says sailors on board the Kokuka Courageous, one of the vessels attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, saw "flying objects" just before the attack, suggesting the tanker wasn't damaged by mines.

That account contradicts what the U.S. military has said as it released a video it says shows Iranian forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the two ships in the suspected attack.

The Japanese tanker carrying petroleum products to Singapore and Thailand was attacked twice while traveling near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, damaging the tanker and forcing all 21 crewmembers to evacuate.

Company president Yutaka Katada said Friday he believes the flying objects seen by the sailors could be bullets, and denied possibility of mines or torpedoes because the damages were above the ship's waterline. He called reports of mine attack "false."

Katada said the crew members also spotted an Iranian naval ship nearby, but did not specify whether that was before or after the attacks. The tanker survived the first attack that hit near the engine room, followed by another causing damage to the star-board side toward the back.

Iran rejects a U.S. accusation against Tehran over suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an early Friday morning tweet called the accusations part of a plot by hawkish politicians in the U.S. and the region.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday blamed Iran for the attacks and the U.S. military released images it said showed Iranian forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the ships.

Zarif tweeted that the United States "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran-w/o a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence."

He said the United States was trying to cover up economic terrorism, referring to sanctions the U.S. re-imposed on Iran.

Saudi Arabia says its military intercepted five drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the kingdom.

Military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki said early Friday that the drones targeted Abha regional airport and Khamis Mushait.

Al-Maliki in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said that the drone attack showed the Houthis were targeting civilian infrastructure in the kingdom.

U.N. experts, the West and Gulf Arab nations say Iran arms the Houthis with weapons. Tehran denies that.

The kingdom says a similar attack Wednesday on the Abha airport wounded 26 people.

It is just the latest in a wave of rebel drone and missile attacks targeting the kingdom, which has been mired in a yearslong war in Yemen that has killed an estimated 60,000 people and pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine.

The development comes as tensions are rising in the Persian Gulf region.

The U.S. military's Central Command has released a video is says shows Iranian forces removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the two ships suspected to have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz.

Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, said a Revolutionary Guard patrol ship removed the limpet mine from the Kokuka Courageous.

Iran has denied involvement in Thursday's suspected attacks amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.

Urban said in a statement the attacks "are a clear threat to international freedom of navigation and freedom of commerce."

He added: "The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests." </s> (CNN) The attack on two tankers in a vital Gulf of Oman waterway Thursday comes at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran in the oil-rich region and raises concerns of a potential conflict in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quick to point the finger at Iran, saying his assessment was "based on intelligence." While Iran denied involvement, the US military on Thursday released a video that it said showed an Iranian navy boat removing an unexploded mine attached to the hull of one of the tankers in an apparent attempt to recover evidence of its participation.

On Friday, however, the Japanese shipping company that owns one of the tankers said it did not believe its ship was attacked by a mine.

The incident bears similarities to an attack on May 12 when four oil tankers were targeted off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman.

Like Thursday's attack, that incident took place near the Strait of Hormuz , a vital shipping route that has been the focal point of regional tensions for decades. About 30% of the world's sea-borne crude oil passes through the strategic choke point, making it a flashpoint for political and economic friction.

Here's how the attacks played out.

On May 12, four commercial oil tankers were targeted near the strategic Emirati port of Fujairah in the Gulf of Oman, in what the UAE described as a "sabotage attack."

One was flying a UAE flag, and another the Norwegian flag. The other two were owned by Saudi Arabia, which described the incident as a threat to the security of global oil supplies.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway told the United Nations Security Council that there were "strong indications that the four attacks were part of a sophisticated and coordinated operation carried out with significant operational capacity."

Diplomats said the assessment of the damage to the four vessels and chemical analysis of the debris recovered revealed "it was highly likely that limpet mines were deployed."

In a printed statement describing the conclusions, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway said the attacks required trained divers and explosive charges placed under the waterline, near the engines so as to not sink the ships or detonate their cargoes, which indicated a knowledge of the design of the targeted ships. The countries say rapid withdrawal of the plotters by fast boats indicated understanding of the geographic area.

The Norwegian Maritime Agency said that three explosions were reported on board the Marshall Islands-flagged Front Altair oil tanker, which is owned by the Bermuda-based Norwegian company Frontline. The company said that a fire broke out after an explosion and that the cause of the blast was unclear.

A second vessel, the Japanese-owned chemical tanker Kokura Courageous, was "attacked" twice "with some sort of shell," the ship's co-manager, Michio Yuube, said.

The vessels were hit "at or below the waterline, in close proximity to the engine room," said the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (Intertanko).

"These appeared to be well-planned and coordinated" attacks, it added.

All 21 Philippine crew members on the Kokura Courageous were evacuated, Yuube said. The ship's Singapore-based management company, BSM, said a sailor was injured and the vessel had suffered damage to its hull.

The USS Bainbridge was nearby when the incident happened and a tug ferried crew members of the Kokuka Courageous to it. Images released by the US Central Command showed crew from the Bainbridge assisting the sailors following their rescue.

The 23 crew members of the Front Altair were picked up by a South Korean cargo ship, the Hyundai Dubai, which responded to their distress call.

According to a Hyundai Merchant Marine official, the ship's captain said in an official report that he heard three explosions prior to the Front Altair's distress call. He went outside to the dock and saw the ship was on fire. Two sailors approached the Norwegian tanker on a lifeboat and rescued the 23 crew, bringing them to the Hyundai Dubai, which has now docked in Abu Dhabi.

On Friday, the Japanese shipping company that owns the chemical tanker Kokuka Courageous said it did not believe the ship was attacked by a mine.

In a press conference Friday in Tokyo, the president of Kokuka Sangyo Marine, Yutaka Katada, said he believed "there is no possibility of mine attack as the attack is well above the naval line."

According to Katada, a crew member said the second attack came from a flying shell.

Katada said that all crew members were now back on board the tanker, which is currently tagged to the UAE city of Khor Fakkan, and were working to get electricity fully up and running.

"It is the assessment by 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 in specially scheduled remarks at the State Department Thursday, as investigations into the attacks were beginning.

"This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication."

In the video, a smaller boat is shown coming up to the side of the tanker. An individual stands up on the bow of the boat and can be seen removing an object from the tanker's hull. The US says that object is likely an unexploded mine.

Another official told CNN that multiple Iranian small boats had entered the area where the Bainbridge continued to be on the scene, prompting US Central Command to issue a statement saying, "No interference with USS Bainbridge, or its mission, will be tolerated."

Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the Saudis "have no reason to disagree" with Pompeo's comments blaming Iran for being behind Thursday's attacks, saying "Iran has a history of doing this."

Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said "suspicious doesn't begin to describe" this latest incident, noting that one of the tankers is Japanese owned and the attack took place as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting Iran in an effort to calm tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for the Iranian mission, tweeted a statement saying Iran "categorically rejects the US unfounded claim" that Iran is behind the attacks and "condemns it in the strongest possible terms."

He added that Iran "expresses concern" over the "suspicious incidents." And he called it "ironic" that the US, which withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, was now calling Iran to come back for negotiations and diplomacy.

The UN Security Council privately discussed the latest on the attack but declined to produce any formal reaction. </s> Audio has emerged of a distress call made at the scene of one of the Gulf of Oman explosions yesterday, as the owner of the other tanker said the crew saw a 'flying object' hurtling towards them.

In the short clip, the captain of a passing cargo ship voices fears of a torpedo attack as he helps to rescue the crew of the MT Front Altair after it was hit by a blast and caught fire.

The sailor, who identifies himself as the captain of the Hyundai Dubai, gives the exact location of the Altair and says that its 23 crew members have 'safely disembarked', in the recording published by TradeWinds.

Washington alleges that Iran was behind the two blasts and published footage yesterday claiming to show an Iranian patrol boat retrieving an unexploded mine from the Kokuka.

However, the accounts of torpedoes and flying objects which are emerging from the two shipping companies do not entirely back America's findings up.

Yutaka Katada, the head of the firm which owns the Kokuka Courageous, said that 'something came flying at the ship' - casting doubt on America's theory that it was attacked with a limpet mine.

He said the unknown object punched a hole in the Kokuka Courageous, starting a fire and forcing the crew to evacuate.

The shipping firm boss said the weapon had not been a torpedo and revealed that the U.S. Navy was now escorting the stricken vessel to the UAE.

He also said it was unlikely that the ship was targeted because of its Japanese ownership - a theory hinted at by Iran as the attacks came during talks with Japan's PM yesterday.

The ship's 21 crew have since returned to the vessel and its cargo of 25,000 tonnes of methanol, destined for Singapore, is said to be undamaged.

Mr Katada, the head of the Kokuka Sangyo company, said the tanker had suffered two apparent attacks.

After the first, crew members 'made evasive manoeuvres but three hours later it was hit again,' he said.

Describing the second blast today, he said: 'The crew members are saying that they were hit by a flying object. They saw it with their own eyes.

'We have received a report saying that something seems to have flew in, there was an explosion and it created a hole in the body of the ship.'

One crew member suffered minor injuries in the blasts, which have sent Middle East tensions spiralling once again.

'Crew members went back to the ship with support of the U.S. military and recovered the backup power source,' Mr Katada said.

'We'll review the overall damage but we don't think there's a possibility it will sink. There's no damage to the goods and fuel.'

The United States has blamed Iran for attacking the Kokuka Courageous and another tanker, the Norwegian-owned Front Altair, on Thursday, but Tehran has denied the allegations.

The ship's crew saw an Iranian military ship in the vicinity on Thursday night Japan time, Katada said.

Katada said he did not believe Kokuka Courageous was targeted because it was owned by a Japanese firm. The tanker is registered in Panama and was flying a Panamanian flag, he said.

'Unless very carefully examined, it would be hard to tell the tanker was operated or owned by Japanese,' he said.

The tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, a major strategic waterway through which about one-fifth of global oil consumption passes on its way from Middle Eastern producers including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait as well as Iran.

'This strait is very crucial. Without this route we can not transport gasoline and heavy oil to Japan,' Katada said.

'Unless another major incident occurs, as long as we get approval from our crew, we will continue operating our tankers via this route to Saudi Arabia.'

Japanese Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Friday that the incidents will be discussed at a meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers this weekend.

Seko declined to comment on American officials blaming Iran, saying Japan is still investigating the incident, which occurred while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Tehran trying to help ease rising tensions between the United States and Iran. </s> DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES >> The U.S. military released a video today it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, suggesting Tehran wanted to hide evidence of its alleged involvement.

Iran denied any role in Thursday’s apparent attacks, which have again roiled the Persian Gulf amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over the unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

Four other oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port city of Fujairah suffered similar attacks in recent weeks, and Iranian-allied rebels from Yemen have struck U.S. ally Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles.

President Donald Trump withdrew America last year from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran reached with world powers and recently imposed a series of sanctions now squeezing its beleaguered economy and cutting deeply into its oil exports. While Iran maintains it has nothing to do with the recent attacks, its leaders repeatedly have threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil flows.

Iran accused Washington of waging an “Iranophobic campaign” against it, while Trump countered that the country was “a nation of terror.”

“Iran did do it,” he said of the attack, in remarks Friday morning to “Fox & Friends.”

The black-and-white U.S. video of the Iranians alongside the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous came after its crew abandoned ship after seeing the undetonated explosive on its hull, said Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command. It separately shared photos of the vessel, which showed what appeared to be a conical limpet mine against its side.

In the video, the boat from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard pulls alongside Kokuka Courageous at 4:10 p.m. Thursday. The Iranians reach up and grab along where the limpet mine could be seen in the photo. They then sail away.

Analysts say Iran, if involved, wouldn’t want investigators to find an unexploded mine because they could check its serial numbers and other attributes to trace it.

“The U.S. and the international community stand ready to defend our interests, including the freedom of navigation,” Urban said in a statement. “The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests.”

In a statement from its U.N. mission, Iran accused the U.S. of escalating tensions.

“The U.S. economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security,” the statement said.

In Tokyo, the owner of the Kokuka Courageous said its sailors saw “flying objects” before the attack, suggesting it wasn’t damaged by mines. Company president Yutaka Katada offered no evidence for his claim, which contradicted the U.S. military account.

Katada also said crew members saw an Iranian naval ship nearby, but did not specify whether this was before or after the attacks.

The suspected attacks occurred at dawn Thursday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the southern coast of Iran. The Front Altair, loaded with naphtha from the United Arab Emirates, radioed for help as its cargo of flammable chemicals caught fire. The Kokuka Courageous, carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, called for help a short time later.

The U.S. Navy sent the USS Bainbridge, which picked up 21 sailors from the Kokuka Courageous, and they stayed overnight on the destroyer, returning to their vessel Friday to help in it being towed.

Thursday’s attack resembled one in May that targeted four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah. U.S. officials similarly accused Iran of using limpet mines, which are magnetic and attach to a ship’s hull. The mines are designed to disable — but not sink — a vessel.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. assessment of Iran’s involvement was based in part on intelligence, as well as the expertise needed for the operation. It was also based on recent incidents, including the Fujairah attack, he said. He also tied Iran to a drone attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a crucial Saudi oil pipeline around the same time.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” Pompeo said. He didn’t elaborate.

Iran also denied being involved in last month’s attacks. Its foreign minister questioned the timing of Thursday’s incidents, given that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Pompeo noted that Abe had asked Iran to enter into talks with Washington but Tehran “rejected” the overture.

“The supreme leader’s government then insulted Japan by attacking a Japanese-owned oil tanker just outside Iranian waters, threatening the lives of the entire crew, creating a maritime emergency,” Pompeo added.

The U.N. Security Council held closed consultations on the tanker incidents late Thursday at the request of the U.S. but took no action.

Tensions have escalated in the Mideast as Iran appears poised to break the nuclear deal, which Trump repudiated last year. In the deal, Tehran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. Now, Iran is threatening to resume enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels if European nations don’t offer it new terms to the deal by July 7.

Already, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said early Friday its military intercepted five drones launched by Houthi rebels targeting the kingdom, including the Abha regional airport. The kingdom said a similar attack Wednesday on the airport wounded 26 people. </s> Israeli intelligence has concluded that Iran carried out Thursday’s attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Israeli television reported on Saturday night.

Quoting a senior Israeli official involved in Iran-related issues, Channel 13 news reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out the attacks. They used mines and a torpedo, the report said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday called Iran “a nation of terror,” saying the attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman had “Iran written all over it.”

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The Israeli conclusion mirrors that of the US and the UK.

The US military on Friday released a video it said shows Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting the Islamic republic sought to remove evidence of its involvement from the scene.

Also Friday, Britain said it had concluded that Iran was “almost certainly” responsible for the latest Gulf tanker attacks.

“Our own assessment leads us to conclude that responsibility for the attacks almost certainly lies with Iran. These latest attacks build on a pattern of destabilizing Iranian behavior and pose a serious danger to the region,” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Friday

Iran denies being involved, accusing the US instead of waging an “Iranophobic campaign” against it. Tehran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday fired back at Washington, accusing the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia of a plot to “sabotage diplomacy,” and appeared to insinuate that those countries were behind the assaults.

US President Donald Trump said Friday of the attacks, “Iran did do it.” He cited the video purporting to show an Iranian boat removing what the US says is an unexploded mine from one of the vessels.

“You know they did it because you saw the boat,” Trump said. “I guess one of the mines didn’t explode and it’s probably got essentially Iran written all over it.”

“You saw the boat at night, successfully trying to take the mine off — and that was exposed,” he said.

Also on Friday, an US official told CNN that Iranian forces in the Gulf of Oman fired a missile at a US drone hours before the alleged attack. The drone had spotted Iranian boats approaching the tankers before the sabotage occurred. The surface-to-air missile launched at the drone missed its target and fell into the sea, the official said.

The ships’ operators offered no immediate explanation on who or what caused the damage against the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. Each was loaded with petroleum products, and the Front Altair burned for hours, sending up a column of thick, black smoke.

Frontline, the owner of the MT Front Altair said Friday that the blaze has been extinguished and did not cause any pollution. The company added that its 23 crew members are still in Iran at Bandar Abbas, though they’ll be repatriated soon.

Frontline CEO Robert Hvide Macleod separately said the company still doesn’t know the cause of the explosion and the fire, “but we can exclude that a fault with the ship that has caused this.”

While Iran has denied being involved in the attack, Tehran previously used mines against oil tankers in 1987 and 1988 in the “Tanker War,” when the US Navy escorted ships through the region.

The black-and-white footage, as well as still photographs released by the US military’s Central Command on Friday, appeared to show the limpet mine on the Kokuka Courageous.

A Revolutionary Guard patrol boat pulled alongside the ship and removed the mine, Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said.

“The US and the international community stand ready to defend our interests, including the freedom of navigation,” Urban said. “The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests.”

Iran earlier denied involvement via a statement from its mission to the United Nations.

“The US economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security,” the statement said.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, the owner of the Kokuka Courageous said its sailors saw “flying objects” before the attack, suggesting it wasn’t damaged by mines. Company president Yutaka Katada offered no evidence for his claim, which contradicts the US military account.

Katada also said crew members saw an Iranian naval ship nearby, but did not specify whether this was before or after the attacks.

The suspected attacks occurred at dawn Thursday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the southern coast of Iran. The Front Altair, loaded with the flammable hydrocarbon mixture naphtha from the United Arab Emirates, radioed for help as it caught fire. A short time later, the Kokuka Courageous, loaded with methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, also called for help.

The US Navy sent a destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, to assist, said Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a 5th Fleet spokesman. He described the ships as being hit in a “reported attack,” without elaborating.

Thursday’s attack resembled that of an attack in May targeting four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah. US officials similarly accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, which are magnetic and attach to the hulls of a ship. The mines disable, but don’t sink, a vessel.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told journalists on Thursday that the US assessment of Iran’s involvement was based in part on intelligence, as well as the expertise needed for the operation. It was also based on recent incidents in the region, which the US also blamed on Iran, including the use of limpet mines in the Fujairah attack, he said. He also tied Iran to a drone attack by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a crucial Saudi oil pipeline around the same time.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” Pompeo said. He didn’t elaborate and took no questions.

Tensions have escalated in the Mideast as Iran appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that President Donald Trump repudiated last year. In the deal, Tehran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. Now, Iran is threatening to resume enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels if European nations don’t offer it new terms to the deal by July 7.

Already, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Meanwhile, US sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military on Friday released a video it said shows Iran's Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting the Islamic Republic sought to remove evidence of its involvement from the scene. Iran denies being involved, accusing the U.S. instead of waging an "Iranophobic campaign" against it.

The U.S. Navy rushed to assist the stricken vessels in the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Iran, including one that was set ablaze Thursday by an explosion.

The ships' operators offered no immediate explanation on who or what caused the damage against the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. Each was loaded with petroleum products, and the Front Altair burned for hours, sending up a column of thick, black smoke.

While Iran has denied being involved in the attack, Tehran previously used mines against oil tankers in 1987 and 1988 in the "Tanker War," when the U.S. Navy escorted ships through the region.

The black-and-white footage, as well as still photographs released by the U.S. military's Central Command on Friday, appeared to show the limpet mine on the Kokuka Courageous.

A Revolutionary Guard patrol boat pulled alongside the ship and removed the mine, Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said.

"The U.S. and the international community stand ready to defend our interests, including the freedom of navigation," Urban said. "The United States has no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. However, we will defend our interests."

This June 13, 2019, image released by the U.S. military's Central Command, shows damage and a suspected mine on the Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman near the coast of Iran. (U.S. Central Command via AP)

Iran earlier denied involvement via a statement from its mission to the United Nations.

"The U.S. economic war and terrorism against the Iranian people as well as its massive military presence in the region have been and continue to be the main sources of insecurity and instability in the wider Persian Gulf region and the most significant threat to its peace and security," the statement said.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, the owner of the Kokuka Courageous said its sailors saw "flying objects" before the attack, suggesting it wasn't damaged by mines. Company president Yutaka Katada offered no evidence for his claim, which contradicts the U.S. military account.

Katada also said crew members saw an Iranian naval ship nearby, but did not specify whether this was before or after the attacks.

The suspected attacks occurred at dawn Thursday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the southern coast of Iran. The Front Altair, loaded with the flammable hydrocarbon mixture naphtha from the United Arab Emirates, radioed for help as it caught fire. A short time later, the Kokuka Courageous, loaded with methanol from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, also called for help.

The U.S. Navy sent a destroyer, the USS Bainbridge, to assist, said Cmdr. Joshua Frey, a 5th Fleet spokesman. He described the ships as being hit in a "reported attack," without elaborating.

Thursday's attack resembled that of an attack in May targeting four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah. U.S. officials similarly accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, which are magnetic and attach to the hulls of a ship. The mines disable, but don't sink, a vessel.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told journalists on Thursday that the U.S. assessment of Iran's involvement was based in part on intelligence, as well as the expertise needed for the operation. It was also based on recent incidents in the region, which the U.S. also blamed on Iran, including the use of limpet mines in the Fujairah attack, he said. He also tied Iran to a drone attack by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a crucial Saudi oil pipeline around the same time.

"Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran," Pompeo said. He didn't elaborate and took no questions.

Iran denied being involved in the attacks last month and its foreign minister questioned the timing of Thursday's incidents, given that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Pompeo noted that Abe had asked Iran to enter into talks with Washington but Tehran "rejected" the overture.

"The supreme leader's government then insulted Japan by attacking a Japanese-owned oil tanker just outside Iranian waters, threatening the lives of the entire crew, creating a maritime emergency," Pompeo added.

At the United Nations, the Security Council held closed consultations on the tanker incidents late Thursday at the request of the United States but took no action.

Tensions have escalated in the Mideast as Iran appears poised to break the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord that President Donald Trump repudiated last year. In the deal, Tehran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. Now, Iran is threatening to resume enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels if European nations don't offer it new terms to the deal by July 7.

Already, Iran says it quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium. Meanwhile, U.S. sanctions have cut off opportunities for Iran to trade its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, putting Tehran on course to violate terms of the nuclear deal regardless.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said early Friday its military intercepted five drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the kingdom, including the Abha regional airport. The kingdom said a similar attack Wednesday on the Abha airport wounded 26 people.

Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, David Rising in Berlin, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Lolita C. Baldor, Zeke Miller and Susannah George in Washington and Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON: The US military released a video late on Thursday that it said showed Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) removing an unexploded mine from the side of a Japanese-owned oil tanker, as Washington blamed Iran for attacks rattling global oil markets.

The US military's Central Command also released photographs showing the apparent mine, which attaches to the side of a ship magnetically, before it was removed later in the day.

Such imagery is often difficult to declassify and its release appeared to show US efforts to convince the international community of Iran's culpability in Thursday's attacks on the Kokuka Courageous and the Norwegian-owned Front Altair. Tehran has bluntly denied the allegation.

Both vessels suffered explosions, forcing crews to abandon ship and leave them adrift in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran.

Navy Captain Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, said the IRGC vessel was observed at 4:10 p.m. local time approaching the Japanese-owned tanker.

"(It) was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the Kokuka Courageous (video attached)," Urban said in a statement.

Reuters had previously reported the existence of the video.

Crude oil prices spiked more than 4 per cent after the attacks near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping artery for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf energy producers. Prices later settled about 2 per cent higher.

Brent crude was down by 0.4 per cent at US$61.06 a barrel in early Asia trading.

Central Command also offered a detailed chronology of events, starting with U.S. Navy forces receiving distress calls from the Altair at 6.12am and from the Kokuka Courageous at 7am.

But much of the chronology centred on the movement of nearby Iranian ships, and what Central Command said was an Iranian order to take control of Altair sailors who had been rescued.

About an hour after the Kokuka Courageous' distress call, a U.S. aircraft observed an IRGC Hendijan-class patrol boat and multiple IRGC fast attack craft and fast inshore attack craft near the Altair, Urban said.

He said that at 9.26am Iranian forces told a ship that had rescued sailors from the Altair "to turn the crew over to the Iranian (fast inshore attack craft)."

"The motor vessel Hyundai Dubai complied with the request and transferred the crew of the Altair to the Iranian (vessels)," Urban said.

In a statement on Thursday evening, the Iranian mission to the United Nations said Tehran "categorically rejects the U.S. unfounded claim with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms."

It accused the United States and its regional allies, which include Iranian rival Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, of "warmongering."

Urban said the United States would defend its interests and warned that Thursday's attacks were a 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," Urban added. "However, we will defend our interests." </s> Washington has blamed Iran for a twin attack on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters, releasing grainy footage it said implicates Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces in one of the operations.

The video, published Thursday on the US Central Command's website, purports to show the crew of an Iranian patrol boat removing an object from the hull of a vessel whose markings appear to match archive footage and pictures of the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous.

The tanker had been transporting methanol from the United Arab Emirates towards the Indian Ocean when it was attacked on Thursday morning, along with the Front Altair, owned by the Oslo-listed company Frontline, after passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

In the CENTCOM footage, a speedboat carrying between eight and 10 people, apparently wearing life jackets, lies in calm waters alongside a tanker that appears to be the Kokuka Courageous.

In the very first frames of the video, a person standing on the bow of the speedboat seems to remove a light-coloured object, slightly bigger than a large dinner plate, from the tanker's hull.

"An IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing (an) unexploded limpet mine," CENTCOM said in its description of the footage.

Another shot, slightly zoomed out, shows the speedboat, between 10-15 metres (30-50 feet) long, backing away from the larger vessel.

Again, the markings, railings and pipes on the tanker appear to match archive AFP footage of the Kokuka Courageous.

As the shot pans away, tracking the reversing patrol boat, a dark patch can be seen further back on the tanker's hull, just above the waterline.

This seems to match damage shown in a handout powerpoint slide separately released by the US military.

Another close-up of the smaller boat shows what appears to be a machine gun, mounted in front of a small wheelhouse.

- 'Iran did do it' -

CENTCOM did not say how the footage was taken, but it was apparently shot from the air.

The operators of the Kokuka Courageous, citing eyewitness reports from the ship's crew, have said it was hit by a "flying object" before suffering a second blast on board.

The US navy said 21 crew members had abandoned ship after "discovering a probable unexploded limpet mine on their hull following an initial explosion".

It said they were picked up by a Dutch tugboat then transferred to the USS Bainbridge.

Analyst Ali Ansari, an Iran expert at Scotland's University of St Andrews and a senior associate at the Royal United Services Institute, warned against jumping to conclusions over the video.

"The situation is particularly febrile and the consequences will be significant so we should not rush to judgement," he said.

Jean-Pierre Maulnay, deputy head of the Paris-based Iris think tank, called the video "useless".

He said the figures on the patrol boat appeared to remove something from the tanker's hull, but "we don't know what it is and it's impossible to confirm".

Iran has dismissed as "baseless" US accusations it executed the twin attacks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US had "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence".

But US President Trump was adamant that "Iran did do it".

"You saw the boat at night, successfully trying to take the mine off -- and that was exposed," he told Fox News television on Friday, after the video was released.

CENTCOM said the video had been taken at 4.10 pm local time.
The president of the Japanese shipping company offers a different account of the attack than that provided by the United States. Yutaka Katada says the Filipino crew of the Kokuka Courageous oil tanker said their vessel was apparently first hit by an artillery shell rather than a mine. The United States said the tanker was attacked by limpet mines and released a video it says shows Iranian special forces removing an unexploded mine from the oil tanker's side.