Iranian oil tanker hit by two missiles near Saudi port: state news

[Falcon29]

Iranian oil tanker hit by two missiles near Saudi port: state news

(CNN)An oil tanker belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was hit and damaged by two missiles on Friday, Iranian state news IRNA reported.
The missiles were "possibly" fired from Saudi soil, Saheb Sadeghi, head of the public relations of the National Iranian Tanker Company, told state-run Press TV.

Reports that the missiles were fired from Saudi territory were later dismissed by NIOC, as reported by IRNA.

Iran has not offered any publicly available evidence for the incident. The ship is still moving and traveling south, according to the tracking service Marine Traffic.
No Iranian government officials have blamed the attack on any side at this stage.

Commenting on the incident, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said according to the semi-official Fars News Agency: "Those behind this dangerous adventurism are responsible for the consequences of such act."

The tanker was 60 miles (96 kilometers) from the Saudi port of Jeddah on the Red Sea when the incident occurred, damaging its body, IRNA reported.
According to the news service, the resulting explosions caused oil to leak into the Red Sea.

Iran's Press TV also tweeted Friday: "Report: Explosion in #Iranian tanker has set vessel on fire near #Saudi port city of #Jeddah."
All the tanker's crew members are safe, IRNA reported. Investigators are looking into the sources of the missiles.
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Iranian oil tanker hit by two missiles near Saudi port: state news | CNN

An oil tanker belonging to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was damaged by an explosion on Friday, Iranian state news IRNA reported.

www.cnn.com

 

[Falcon29]

 

[Falcon29]

No one is reporting on this anymore. It was all over news few hours ago.

 

[Falcon29]

@IbnAbdullah

What's your take on this , brother? I personally wouldn't rule out this being a Saudi response to Aramco attacks. Iran would not want to implicate Saudi Arabia for same reasons Saudi Arabia did not want to publicly implicate Iran.

 

[Zeeman]

Saudis need to sink couple of their tankers and blame Yemeni government . Tit for tat.... I would also demolish their offshore oil platforms

 

[IbnAbdullah]

Salaam

@IbnAbdullah

What's your take on this , brother? I personally wouldn't rule out this being a Saudi response to Aramco attacks. Iran would not want to implicate Saudi Arabia for same reasons Saudi Arabia did not want to publicly implicate Iran.

I'm not really sure about this. There are many players in the region who are active with different agendas.

In terms of long term strategic interests, I don't see how a direct conflict between Iran and Saudi would benefit either, especially Saudi. I say especially Saudi Arabia because it is a rich country with good infrastructure that has a lot to lose in a direct exchange of missiles and such - and a war between the two would be like that.

In addition to all of this, there is also the news about the Saudis and the Iranians opening backdoor diplomatic channels.

So it seems that both of them understand the cost of a direct shooting war between them. Maybe they'd prefer to keep it indirect. However, I'd hope they both would find a solution to end even those.

There is obviously the Israeli angle to this, I don't think it would be beyond them. However, sometimes I feel the Israelis cast a larger shadow than their actual capabilities.

However, I think Americans slowly are changing their focus from the M.E to China. This is causing many a players there to try and figure out the workings of the developing situation.

What do you think about all of this, brother? You are, after all, from that area.

 

[Falcon29]

Saudis need to sink couple of their tankers and blame Yemeni government . Tit for tat.... I would also demolish their offshore oil platforms

Sinking might be a step too far as there would be human casualties. Something like this is a measured response if it was actually the Saudis.

Salaam




I'm not really sure about this. There are many players in the region who are active with different agendas.

In terms of long term strategic interests, I don't see how a direct conflict between Iran and Saudi would benefit either, especially Saudi. I say especially Saudi Arabia because it is a rich country with good infrastructure that has a lot to lose in a direct exchange of missiles and such - and a war between the two would be like that.

In addition to all of this, there is also the news about the Saudis and the Iranians opening backdoor diplomatic channels.

So it seems that both of them understand the cost of a direct shooting war between them. Maybe they'd prefer to keep it indirect. However, I'd hope they both would find a solution to end even those.

There is obviously the Israeli angle to this, I don't think it would be beyond them. However, sometimes I feel the Israelis cast a larger shadow than their actual capabilities.

However, I think Americans slowly are changing their focus from the M.E to China. This is causing many a players there to try and figure out the workings of the developing situation.

What do you think about all of this, brother? You are, after all, from that area.

Thanks for your input, brother. For this specific incident I am not sure, but for overall state of region it is hot and doesn't look like it will get better. The nation state model is not really working well for the Middle East. I see this getting worse with time.

 

[Scorpion]

Saudi Arabia has got nothing to do with this. It seems like a setup operation by the Iranian themselves to justify targeting oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf. Saudi Arabia will never restore to this kind of childish act. Plus targeting oil tankers off the coast hurts the Saudis more it does to Iran. Its easy for Saudi Arabia to size the tanker than targeting it. Stupid mullah.

 

[space cadet]

Not sure why, but I get the feeling that this is some kind of made up drama, tanker hit with 2 missiles and is not burning?

I say this because I have seen reports that sat images show no smoke or oil spill and the ship is underway

 

[Falcon29]

Saudi Arabia has got nothing to do with this. It seems like a setup operation by the Iranian themselves to justify targeting oil tankers in the Arabian Gulf. Saudi Arabia will never restore to this kind of childish act. Plus targeting oil tankers off the coast hurts the Saudis more it does to Iran. Its easy for Saudi Arabia to size the tanker than targeting it. Stupid mullah.

Yes, this is one theory I see being shared. Another is that Iran tried launching an attack on Saudi's but equipment failed and exploded on site.

 

[space cadet]

Yea, I heard they had been floating around out there for a few days

 

[Falcon29]

SAUDI ARABIA SAYS IT RECEIVED DISTRESS MESSAGE FROM DAMAGED IRANIAN TANKER

DUBAI - Saudi Arabia said it received a distress message on Friday from a damaged Iranian tanker in the Red Sea but the vessel kept moving and switched off its transponder before it could provide assistance, state news agency SPA reported on Saturday.

SPA said the Sabiti tanker did not respond to many communications from the Saudi authorities. Saudi Arabia was committed to the security and safety of navigation and international laws, it said.
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Saudi Arabia says it received distress message from damaged Iran tanker

www.jpost.com

 

[Falcon29]

Iranian government spokesman decries 'cowardly attack' on oil tanker

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian government spokesman on Saturday called the apparent targeting of an Iranian oil tanker by missiles 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. An appropriate response will be given to the designers of this cowardly attack, but we will wait until all aspects of the plot are clarified,” spokesman Ali Rabei said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
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Iranian government spokesman decries 'cowardly attack' on oil tanker

An Iranian government spokesman on Saturday called the apparent targeting of an Iranian oil tanker by missiles a "cowardly attack" and said Iran would respond after the facts had been studied.

www.reuters.com

 

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Pictures of damage: