July 19, 2019
The US is pressing UN Security Council members to publicly back its assertion that Iran was behind attacks on six oil tankers in recent weeks, providing a new report to make its case.
The US concluded “with a high degree of confidence that Iran was responsible” for the attacks on May 12 and June 13, Acting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen wrote in a letter June 27. Iran has denied it is to blame.
The American assessment “is based on intelligence, the weapons and tactics used in the attacks and the fact that no proxy in the region has the capabilities,” according to the summary seen by Bloomberg News. The phrase a “high degree of confidence” is a term used by US intelligence agencies, the summary didn’t specify what agencies had made findings.
The UK, Germany and Saudi Arabia have agreed that Iran was probably behind the attacks. But other US allies have largely been silent. The United Arab Emirates actually distanced itself from the US conclusion, saying there is not enough evidence to blame any one.
The Pasdaran probably conducted the attacks on oil tankers in the vicinity of Fujairah within 53 minutes, the US said in the summary. It said the most convincing piece of information came from the USS Mason, which spotted 20 Pasdar fastboats traveling from the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz into UAE territorial waters hours before the attacks.
Limpet mines — which are usually attached to ships by magnets — were used in both the May and June attacks, and the US concluded the mines were Iranian. It said the mines used in the attack on the Japanese tanker Kokuka Courageous are unique in structure when compared to the international inventory of the mines and bear a “striking resemblance” to Iranian-made devices.
“Given this compelling evidence, we call on council members to join us in attributing these attacks to Iran,” the US said. None but Britain have so far done so.
