Two oil tankers traveling through the Gulf of Oman were attacked Thursday morning, according to multiple reports.
The tankers — one based in Dubai the other from Singapore — were apparently headed to Asia. Just one injury was reported on the two ships, according to CNN.
It is unclear who targeted the ships and for what purposes. The attackers used “some sort of shell” the ship’s owner said.
Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, tweeted “suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”
Reported attacks on Japan-related tankers occurred while PM @AbeShinzo was meeting with Ayatollah @khamenei_ir for extensive and friendly talks.
Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.
Iran’s proposed Regional Dialogue Forum is imperative.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) June 13, 2019
The United States Fifth Fleet said “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 a.m.”
The fleet said it was assisting in the rescue.
The Gulf of Oman is the same waterway where four other tankers were targeted by Iran in what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said was an attempt to drive up international oil prices.
