In tensions between Iran and the United States, tankers are targeting the Strait of Hormuz

In tensions between Iran and the United States, tankers are targeting the Strait of Hormuz

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Two tankers near the strategic channel of Hormuz were destroyed on Thursday for alleged attacks, causing a hot, another drift and forcing sailors to evacuate the latest mysterious events involving tankers. Because tensions have intensified the United States and Iran.

The US Navy rushed in to help the affected ships, and the shipowners did not immediately explain what weapons caused damage to the MT Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman near the Iranian coast, although everyone believed that these ships were the target of the attack. After the first Altair burned for a few hours, it burned half of the side of the ship and sent a thick black smoke to the sky.

Last month, the United States claimed that Iran used shell mines to attack four tankers in the nearby Fujairah port of the United Arab Emirates. Iran denied participation, but at the time of the incident, Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels also launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, including oil infrastructure.

At the same time, in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that although Tehran does not seek nuclear weapons, "the United States cannot take any action" to stop Iran.

The comment was made in a one-on-one meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a high-risk visit to Tehran aimed at easing Iran-United States. Tension shows that the effort has failed.

The benchmark Brent crude's transaction price after a suspicious attack rose by 4% to more than $62 a barrel, highlighting the region's importance to the global energy supply. One third of the oil traded on the sea passes through the strait, which is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Major. The fifth fleet spokesman Joshua Frey said that the US Navy is assisting the two vessels he called "the reported attack." He did not say how the ships were attacked, nor did he say who was behind the attack. He said that the US destroyer USS Bainbridge was sent to assist.

Affected by suspected attacks, the Marshall Islands crude oil tanker MT Front Altair immediately caught fire.

The company that runs Front Altair told the Associated Press that the explosion was the cause of the fire on board. It stated that 23 crew members were safe after being evacuated by a nearby modern Dubai vessel.

The BSM ship management department stated that Kokuka’s brave hull was damaged by the hull and that 21 crew members had been evacuated and one of them was slightly injured.

Iranian state television said that the 44 crew members of the two tankers had been transferred to an Iranian port in the southern province of Hormuzgan.

According to data company Refinitiv, Front Altair is from Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates, which is the loading point for the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It carries naphtha, a flammable hydrocarbon. Refinitiv said that Kokuka Courageous comes from Mesaieed in Saudi Arabia and Jubayl in Saudi Arabia, who carry methanol, a compound used in various products.

Jakob P. Larsen, head of maritime security at BIMCO, said the two vessels are still floating, suggesting that mines may have destroyed them, the largest international association representing shipowners.

"From the point of view of damage, it doesn't look like a torpedo. It looks like a smaller thing, whether it's an improvised explosive device on board or a limpet mine," he told the Associated Press.

He added: "The shipping industry believes that this is an escalation of the situation. If there is no real armed conflict, we will approach the conflict, so the tension is very serious."

The timing of the suspected attack on Thursday was particularly sensitive as Abe’s high-risk diplomatic mission was under way in Iran. The Japanese Ministry of Trade said that the two vessels had "Japanese related goods" and did not elaborate.

On Wednesday, after talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Abe warned that it is necessary to avoid any "accidental conflict" in the context of increased tension between the United States and Iraq.

His news came in the hours after Iranian-backed Hussein rebels in Yemen attacked Saudi airport, attacked their arrival hall before dawn and injured 26 people on Wednesday. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Houthi for more than four years, and UN experts and Western countries say they have obtained weapons from Iran. Tehran denied this.

After Abe met with the top leaders on Thursday, the website of Khamenei issued a statement saying that the exchanges between the two sides were tense.

"We have no doubt about your kindness and seriousness, but... I don't think (President Donald) Trump should exchange any information," reported that Khamenei told Abe.

Khamenei also said that Iran still opposes the construction of nuclear weapons, but challenges Trump.

"You should know that if we plan to produce nuclear weapons, the United States will be powerless," Khamenei said, and he has the final say on all the national issues in Iran's Shiite theocracy.

As Iran seems ready to break the 2015 nuclear deal with the world's major powers, this is the agreement that the Trump administration withdrew last year and the tension in the Middle East has escalated.

Iran’s nuclear deal saw Tehran agree to limit its enriched uranium in exchange for lifting severe sanctions.

When he quit the deal last year, Trump pointed out that the agreement did not restrict Iran's ballistic missile program, nor did it solve the bad influence that Tehran said in the Middle East. The person who reached an agreement at the time said that this was the cornerstone of further negotiations with Iran. The Iranian Islamic government had been in tension with the United States since taking over the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the subsequent hostage crisis.

Iran has said that its production of low enriched uranium has quadrupled. At the same time, US sanctions have weakened Iran’s chances of trading its excess uranium and heavy water abroad, leaving Tehran to violate the terms of the nuclear deal anyway.

Dubai's Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy, Berlin's David Rising, Tokyo's Mari Yamaguchi and Iran's Tehran's Amir Vahdat contributed to the report.