News / Politics

Iranian official: US may have been behind tanker incidents

Sunday, 16 June 2019 9:16 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 16 June 2019 9:25 AM ]

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States may have carried out acts of sabotage against two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman to blame them on Iran and pressure Tehran.

Speaking at a parliamentary session on Sunday, Larijani referred to the US record in carrying out false flag operations and said the Thursday fires that erupted on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman may have been similar incidents.

“Suspicious acts in the Sea of Oman against oil tankers… seem to be supplementary to the [US] economic sanctions as the Americans went nowhere with the sanctions, [also,] especially, given America’s historical record in the area [of false flag ops],” Larijani said.

One Japanese-owned and one Norwegian-owned tanker were struck by explosions near the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Thursday morning. Tokyo said both vessels were carrying “Japanese-related” cargo.

Shortly after the incidents on Thursday morning, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran, without offering any evidence. Iran has rejected the accusation, and a piece of footage later released by the US as proof of Iranian involvement has been discredited by experts and dismissed by other governments, including Japan.

Larijani mocked remarks by Pompeo, who urged Iran to “meet diplomacy with diplomacy, not with terror, bloodshed, and extortion.”

The Iranian official then named a series of measures taken by the US against Iran and asked if they constituted “diplomacy.”

“Is it diplomacy to start a face-off with a revolutionary nation with acts of economic terrorism, [economic sanctions] which they themselves call the toughest ever?” said.

“Is it diplomacy, Mr. Pompeo, to renege on one’s promises in the nuclear agreement?” he said, referring to the US’s unilateral withdrawal from a multilateral deal with Iran.

Ever since that pullout in May 2018, the administration of US President Donald Trump has been waging what it calls a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran.

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