Crisis in the Arabian Gulf | Page 5 | World Defense

BATMAN

THINK TANK
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Messages
1,892
Reactions
1,697 47 0
Country
Pakistan
Location
Pakistan
Iran is the mastermind.
Iran and India are partnering in every terror attack on Pakistan soil.
Recent attack in Gawadar... terrorist could have only crossed in from Iranian side of border, which is obviously unguarded.
Terrorists organization involved, had political backing of India and Israel.
 

BATMAN

THINK TANK
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Messages
1,892
Reactions
1,697 47 0
Country
Pakistan
Location
Pakistan
Saudi Arabia confirms oil Aramco's sites targeted UAV

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih as saying that between 6-6.30am on Tuesday, a petroleum pumping station supplying an east-west pipeline between the Eastern Province and to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea was targeted by drones
.


Improvised low tech. weapons for sabotage acts. is trademark Iranian military warfare.
 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
U.S Army Air Force B-52 bomber, at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar as task force against Iran threat

4 B52's
2 are nuclear capable.

 

Scorpion

THINK TANK: SENIOR
Joined
Nov 27, 2014
Messages
3,868
Reactions
3,197 56 0
Country
Saudi Arabia
Location
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia confirms oil Aramco's sites targeted UAV

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih as saying that between 6-6.30am on Tuesday, a petroleum pumping station supplying an east-west pipeline between the Eastern Province and to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea was targeted by drones
.


This is definitely was carried out from inside Saudi Arabia. There is no way a small UAV can travel 1000 km from inside Yemen all the way to the oil facilities. Let aIon flying at high altitude without being detected or flying at low altitude without disconnection unless using satellite communication but still it needs to be flying at high altitude considering the mountainous terrain on both side. I think there is some Yemeni elements inside Saudi Arabia loyal to Houthis or Lebanese loyal to Hizbollah. Its very unreasonable to have 4 million Yemenis living in Saudi Arabia.
 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
This is definitely was carried out from inside Saudi Arabia. There is no way a small UAV can travel 1000 km from inside Yemen all the way to the oil facilities. Let aIon flying at high altitude without being detected or flying at low altitude without disconnection unless using satellite communication but still it needs to be flying at high altitude considering the mountainous terrain on both side. I think there is some Yemeni elements inside Saudi Arabia loyal to Houthis or Lebanese loyal to Hizbollah. Its very unreasonable to have 4 million Yemenis living in Saudi Arabia.

Just a theory-


The drone was controlled via a boat in the red sea.
 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
U.S. believes Iran proxies may be behind tanker attacks, official says
May 14, 2019


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. national security agencies believe proxies sympathetic to or working for Iran may have attacked four tankers off the United Arab Emirates rather than Iranian forces themselves, a U.S. official familiar with the latest U.S. assessments said on Tuesday.

The official said possible perpetrators might include Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran-backed Shi’ite militias based in Iraq but said Washington did not have hard evidence on who sabotaged the four vessels, including two Saudi tankers on Sunday near Fujairah port, which lies just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia said armed drones hit two oil pumping stations in the kingdom on Tuesday in what it called a “cowardly” act of terrorism.

A fifth of global oil consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz from Middle East crude producers to major markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond. The narrow waterway separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula.

On Monday, a U.S. official familiar with U.S. intelligence had said Iran was a leading candidate for having carried out attacks on the four tankers but that the United States did not have conclusive proof Tehran was behind them.

Iran has rejected the allegation and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that “extremist individuals” in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies, amid a war of words with Washington over sanctions.

Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Writing by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Grant McCool

 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
Iran's Supreme Leader says there will be no war with U.S.
May 14, 2019



LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran does not seek war with the United States despite mounting tensions between the two arch-enemies over Iranian nuclear capabilities and its missile program.

In comments to senior officials carried by state television, Khamenei also reiterated that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with the United States on another nuclear deal.

“There won’t be any war. The Iranian nation has chosen the path of resistance,” Khamenei was cited as saying by the state media. “We don’t seek a war, and they don’t either. They know it’s not in their interests.”

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States a year ago from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers under which Tehran curbed its uranium enrichment capacity, a potential pathway to a nuclear bomb, and won sanctions relief in return.


Since then, Trump has ratcheted up sanctions on Iran, seeking to reduce its lifeblood oil exports to zero, to push Tehran into fresh negotiations on a broader arms control deal, targeting in part the Iranian ballistic missile program.

“(Such) negotiations are a poison,” Khamenei said.

The United Arab Emirates reported on Sunday that four commercial vessels including two Saudi oil tankers had been sabotaged offshore from the UAE emirate of Fujairah just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. national security agencies believe proxies sympathetic to or working for Iran may have been behind the attacks.


Iran has rejected the allegation and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that “extremist individuals” in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies, stoking a war of words with Washington over sanctions.

Trump warned on Monday Iran would “suffer greatly” if it targeted U.S. interests after Washington deployed an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Middle East.

Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Mark Heinrich

 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
Trump denies U.S. plan to send 120,000 troops to counter Iran threat
May 14, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied a New York Times report that U.S. officials were discussing a military plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East to counter any attack or nuclear weapons acceleration by Iran.

“I think it’s fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that,” Trump told reporters at the White House.


The Times reported that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented an updated plan last week in a meeting of top national security aides that envisions sending as many as 120,000 American troops to the region if Iran attacks U.S. forces or accelerates work on its nuclear weapons.

The updated plan does not call for a land invasion of Iran, which would require far more troops, the Times reported, citing unidentified administration officials.

The plan reflects revisions ordered by Iran hawks including national security adviser John Bolton, the newspaper said.

Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Makini Brice; editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish


 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
Saudi Arabia says 'terrorist attack' on oil tankers raises new security concerns
May 15, 2019

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s cabinet called the “terrorist attack” against two Saudi oil tankers near the United Arab Emirates’ territorial waters a threat to maritime safety, saying it reflected poorly on regional and international security, Saudi Press agency reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, reported by the agency, the Saudi cabinet said it was “the shared responsibility of the international community to preserve maritime safety and oil tankers security in anticipation of any effects on energy markets, and the danger of that on world economy.”

Reporting by Omar Fahmy and Marwa Rashad, writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Tom Brown

 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
Saudi Arabia says pipeline sabotage targets kingdom, global oil supply
May 15, 2019

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s cabinet said sabotage operations against two East-West oil pipeline pumping stations on Tuesday targeted not only the kingdom but the security of global oil supplies and the world economy, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The cabinet, after a meeting headed by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, stressed in a statement “the importance of standing against all terrorist organizations that carry out such acts of sabotage, including Iranian-backed Houthi militias”.

Reporting by Omar Fahmy and Marwa Rashad, writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Tom Brown



 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
U.S. warns on possible 'imminent threats' to U.S. forces in Iraq
May 14, 2019


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Tuesday reaffirmed its concerns about possible imminent threats from Iranian-backed forces to its troops in Iraq, who were now at a high level of alert.

Earlier in the day, a senior British commander in the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State remnants in Iraq and Syria said there had been no increase in the threat from Iran-backed militia.

British Major General Chris Ghika appeared to contradict increasingly heated warnings from Washington, where officials say they see a growing threat from Iran.

Iran says the U.S. is waging “psychological warfare” and a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has said Iran would retaliate against any aggressive U.S. moves. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran does not seek war with the United States despite mounting tensions over U.S. sanctions, Iranian nuclear capabilities and its missile program.

The U.S. military’s Central Command offered a clarifying statement after the remarks by Ghika, the coalition’s deputy commander for strategy and information.

“Recent comments from (the coalition’s) Deputy Commander run counter to the identified credible threats available to intelligence from U.S. and allies regarding Iranian backed forces in the region,” said Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman at the U.S. military’s Central Command.

Urban said the coalition, which also operates in Syria, had increased its “force posture level” - terminology that can often refer to the alert levels meant to safeguard troops.

“(Operation Inherent Resolve) is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to U.S. forces in Iraq,” Urban said, referring to the coalition’s mission against Islamic State fighters.

Ghika was initially unequivocal when he asserted that there was no new threat from Iran.

“No, there has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria. We are aware of their presence clearly and we monitor them along with a whole range of others because that is the environment we are in,” Ghika said initially.

He later declined to reaffirm that statement, when pressed by reporters.

The United States has sent an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles to the Middle East in a show of force against what U.S. officials have said is a threat to U.S. troops and interests in the region.

Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; editing by Grant McCool


 

Khafee

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
12,324
Reactions
24,463 1,293 0
Saudi oil facilities attacked, U.S. sees threat in Iraq from Iran-backed forces
May 14, 2019
Stephen Kalin, Rania El Gamal


RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said armed drones struck two of its oil pumping stations on Tuesday, two days after the sabotage of oil tankers near the United Arab Emirates, and the U.S. military said it was braced for “possibly imminent threats to U.S. forces in Iraq” from Iran-backed forces.

The attacks took place against a backdrop of U.S.-Iranian tension following Washington’s decision this month to try to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero and to beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to what it said were Iranian threats.

Tuesday’s attacks on the pumping stations more than 200 miles (320 km) west of Riyadh and Sunday’s on four tankers off Fujairah emirate have raised concerns that the United States and Iran might inching toward military conflict.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump denied a New York Times report that U.S. officials were discussing a military plan to send up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East to counter any attack or nuclear weapons acceleration by Iran.

“It’s fake news, OK? Now, would I do that? Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully we’re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that,” Trump told reporters.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there would not be war with the United States despite mounting tensions over Iranian nuclear capabilities, its missile program and its support for proxies in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

“There won’t be any war. The Iranian nation has chosen the path of resistance,” he said in comments carried by Iran’s state TV. He repeated that Tehran would not negotiate with Washington over Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers.

The U.S. military cited possible imminent threats to its troops in Iraq and said they were now on high alert. The U.S. was responding to comments from a British deputy commander of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State remnants in Iraq and Syria who said there had been no increase in the threat from Iran-backed militia.

The comments “run counter to the identified credible threats available to intelligence from U.S. and allies regarding Iranian backed forces in the region,” said Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman at the U.S. military’s Central Command.

Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal a year ago and has sharply increased economic sanctions on Iran.


Under the accord negotiated by Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, Iran agreed to curb its uranium enrichment capacity, a potential pathway to a nuclear bomb, in return for sanctions relief.

NO HARD EVIDENCE
The Trump administration’s sanctions are designed to choke off Iran’s oil exports in an effort to force Iran to accept more stringent limits on its nuclear and missile programs as well as to rein in its support for proxy forces in the region.

U.S. national security agencies believe proxies sympathetic to or working for Iran may have sabotaged the tankers near the UAE rather than Iranian forces themselves, a U.S. official familiar with the latest U.S. assessments said.

The official said possible perpetrators might include Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran-backed Shi’ite militias based in Iraq, but Washington had no hard evidence. On Monday, a U.S. official said Iran was a leading candidate for the tanker sabotage but the United States did not have conclusive proof.

Iran rejects the allegation of Iranian involvement and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that “extremist individuals” in the U.S. government were pursuing dangerous policies.


A senior European diplomat voiced skepticism that Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy would force Iran to capitulate.

“Iran is not falling to its knees,” said the diplomat on condition of anonymity, saying Iran could resume its nuclear work and leave Washington with no option but military action.

“Does Trump want to go to war with Iran especially during an election campaign year?” he asked.

Democratic Party candidates are already campaigning ahead of the November 2020 U.S. election aiming to stop Republican Trump being re-elected.

HOUTHI TV CLAIMS DRONE ATTACK
Houthi-run Masirah TV earlier said the group had carried out drone attacks on “vital” Saudi installations in response to “continued aggression and blockade” on Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis for four years in Yemen to try to restore the internationally recognized government in a conflict widely seen as a Saudi-Iran proxy war.

The Houthis have hit Saudi cities with drones and missiles, but two Saudi sources told Reuters this was the first time a facility of the state-run Aramco had been attacked by drones.

Aramco said it had temporarily shut down the East-West pipeline, known as Petroline, to evaluate its condition. The pipeline mainly transports crude from the kingdom’s eastern fields to the port of Yanbu, which lies north of Bab al-Mandeb.

The energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, said the latest attacks caused a fire, now contained, and minor damage at one pump station, but did not disrupt oil output or exports of crude and petroleum products.

Oil prices rose on news of the attack on the Saudi pumping stations. Brent futures gained $1.01, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $71.24 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet said the “terrorist attack” against two Saudi oil tankers near the UAE reflected poorly on regional and international security, Saudi Press agency reported.


It quoted the cabinet as saying it was the international community’s shared responsibility “to preserve maritime safety and oil tankers security in anticipation of any effects on energy markets, and the danger of that on world economy.”

The UAE has not blamed anyone for what it called sabotage on the vessels. The UAE said the other tankers hit were a UAE-flagged fuel bunker barge and a Norwegian-registered oil products tanker near Fujairah, one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

A fifth of global oil consumption passes through the strait from Middle East crude producers to much of the world.

A UAE official told Reuters the UAE was working with local and international partners from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Norway and France - which has a naval base in Abu Dhabi - to “fully investigate the incident and to identify the people or entities responsible.”

Reporting by Stephen Kalin and Rania El Gamal; Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Asma Alsharif, Aziz El Yaakoubi and Davide Barbuscia in Dubai; Ahmed Aboulenein in Baghdad; Mark Hosenball, Doina Chiacu, Makini Brice, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart in Washington; Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Grant McCool


 
Top