Friday, June 14, 2019

Is Iran Attacking Oil Tankers As Part Of A Greater Strategy?

The Front Altair was on fire in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran after an explosion that a source blamed on a magnetic mine. The crew of the Norwegian vessel were picked up by a vessel in the area and passed to an Iranian rescue boat. ISNA/Handout via REUTERS

Bobby Ghosh, Bloomberg: The Method in Iran's Oil Tanker Madness

Squint hard enough, and you can see the outlines of a strategy that ends in negotiations.

Suspicion is now hardening that Iran was behind the attack on the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday morning. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has fingered the Islamic Republic, and American officials have released footage of what purports to be an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps speedboat alongside one of the ships. The video shows men apparently removing an unexploded limpet mine from the hull of the vessel.

The implication is that the perpetrators were removing evidence of their guilt.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Iran wants an end to sanctions on its terms. Attacking oil tankers openly and/or in incognito is not going to accomplish that. So if this is their strategy (which I doubt), it is going to fail spectacularly.

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