Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers Thursday morning in the Gulf of Oman.
“Iran is lashing out because the regime wants our successful maximum pressure campaign lifted,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “The international community condemns Iran’s assault on the freedom of navigation and the targeting of innocent civilians.”
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The explosions that rocked the two tankers, which are owned respectively by Norwegian and Japanese companies, took place almost exactly one month after four other vessels were struck in the Gulf of Oman. That incident in May raised the prospect of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States and sparked allegations that President Trump’s national security team is careening towards war, but Pompeo sought to preempt any doubts about their conclusions on Thursday.
“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,” he said.
The latest attacks coincided with an historic trip to Tehran by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, who sought to broker negotiations between President Trump and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian leaders, who fault Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and renewing economic sanctions waived under the deal, rebuffed the call for talks, but told their Japanese guest that they had “no intention” of developing nuclear weapons.
“I met face-to-face with Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and I was able to hear his belief in peace,” Abe told reporters after the meeting. “It is a major step forward toward securing peace and stability in this region.”
That outlook was marred as tankers issued distress calls Thursday morning, an incident that Pompeo linked to Khamenei’s rejection of Abe’s attempt to jump-start talks with the United States.
“The supreme leader’s government then insulted Japan by attacking a Japanese-owned oil tanker just outside of Iranian waters, threatening the lives of the entire crew and creating a maritime emergency,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif cited the timing of the attack Thursday on the Japanese tanker to suggest that his country was being framed. “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning,” he tweeted.
One of former President Barack Obama’s top foreign policy advisers, Ben Rhodes, called for an “international investigation” into the attacks. “Huge risk of escalation,” Rhodes worried.
Last month’s attack was carried out by scuba divers armed with magnetic mines, according to a joint investigation by Norway, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
It took place amid reports of potential plots by Iranian-controlled forces against U.S. personnel in the Middle East, which the administration cited when deploying an aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf. U.S. officials maintained that the military posturing was designed to deter any continuing aggression, not instigate a conflict.
The same kind of mines were reportedly used Thursday morning on the Japanese-owned tanker.
“Foreign Minister Zarif may think this is funny, but no one else in the world does,” Pompeo said, dismissing the Iranian diplomat’s tweet. “Our policy remains an economic and diplomatic effort to bring Iran back to the negotiating table at the right time, to encourage a comprehensive deal that addresses the broad range of threats — threats today apparent for all the world to see — to peace and security.”
