The operator of one of the oil tankers affected in the attack registered in the Gulf of Oman, owned by a Japanese company, has assured that his crew saw “flying objects” before the explosion.
The president of the Japanese shipping company Kokuka Sangyo, Yutaka Katada, denied this Friday at a press conference in Tokyo that the tanker was hit by a torpedo while sailing off the coast of the emirate of Fujaira.
Katada added that the entire crew of the tanker returned to the ship after the explosion to restore the electrical system.
Iran has categorically rejected “unfounded accusations” by the United States regarding the attack on two oil companies and has stressed that it condemns them “in the strongest terms possible.”
Hours earlier, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had said that the incident “is an unacceptable escalation of tensions on the part of Iran” and has called for unity to the international community before the actions of Tehran.
Pompeo explained that the American analysis to reach this conclusion is based on the type of weapons used and the level of “sophistication” of the operation.
He has also responded to the statements of his Iranian counterpart, Mohamad Yavad Zarif, who has described what happened as “suspect”. “Suspect does not begin to describe what supposedly happened this morning,” he added.
In this sense, Pompeo has said that “maybe Zarif thinks that this is fun, but nobody else in the world believes it”. “Iran is responding because the regime wants our successful campaign of maximum pressure to be withdrawn,” he argued.
“No economic sanctions authorize Iran to attack innocent civilians, alter international oil markets and carry out nuclear blackmail,” said the US Secretary of State.
Pompeo has also stressed that he has ordered the US ambassador to the United Nations to raise “the Iranian attacks” during the meeting to be held this Thursday by the UN Security Council to address what happened.
