Reportedly, an Iranian oil tanker Sabiti was hit by missiles in Red Sea
waters off Saudi Arabia on Friday. The incident is likely to further heighten
friction in the region already rattled by attacks on tankers and oil
installations since May. Oil prices rose on the news of the incident and
industry sources said it could drive up already high shipping costs.
The Red Sea is a major global shipping route for oil and
other trade, linking the Indian Ocean with the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal.
It is the latest incident involving oil tankers in the Red
Sea and Gulf region, and may ratchet up tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia,
long-time regional adversaries fighting a proxy war in Yemen, at the southern
end of the Red Sea.
There was no claim of responsibility for the reported
incident and it has yet to be independently confirmed.
The proximity of the tanker at the time of the attack to
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah port gives western media to allege that the missiles
could have been launched from the kingdom.
Another plausible theory could be that the ship was hit in
an Israeli sabotage operation. The purpose would be to disrupt Iranian tanker
activity in the Red Sea corridor as it heads toward the Suez Canal. A third
possibility would be that the attack was conducted by a terrorist group.
An Iranian government spokesman has described targeting of
an Iranian-owned oil tanker by missiles as a “cowardly attack” and said Iran
would respond after the facts had been studied.
“Iran is avoiding haste, carefully examining what has
happened and probing facts,” government spokesman Ali Rabei, siad.
Separately, a senior security official said video evidence
had provided leads about the incident, adding that the Sabiti was hit by two
missiles.
“A special committee has been set up to investigate the
attack on Sabiti... with two missiles and its report will soon be submitted to
the authorities for decision,” said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s top security
body.
“Piracy and mischief on international waterways aimed at
making commercial shipping insecure will not go unanswered,” he said.
According to Iranian sources, leakage of cargo from the
tanker has been stopped as it heads for the Gulf. The tanker is heading for
Persian Gulf waters and it was expected to enter Iranian waters safely. Nasrollah
Sardashti, head of National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) that owns the damaged
tanker, said the crew was safe and the vessel would reach Iranian waters within
10 days.
Saudi Arabia said it received a distress message from the
damaged tanker but the vessel kept moving and switched off its transponder
before it could be provide assistance.
The United States has been balaming Iran for attacks on
tankers in the Gulf in May and June as well as for strikes on Saudi oil sites
in September. Tehran has denied having a role in any of them.
The U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which operates in the region,
said it was aware of the reports but had no further information.
According to western media, at times, Iranian narratives offer
diverging accounts. State-run television, citing the national oil company, said
the tanker was hit by missiles while denying a report they came from Saudi
Arabia.
It also said, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the ship was hit
twice, without saying what struck it. State television broadcast images from
the Sabiti’s deck saying they were taken after the attack but showing no
visible damage. The ship’s hull was not in view.
Political risk consultancy Eurasia Group said it did not
have firm evidence about who may have been behind the incident.
