Saudi Arabia’s Coast Guard Rescues Iranian Oil Tanker in Red Sea

Saudi Arabia’s coast guard assisted a malfunctioning Iranian oil tanker off the coast of Jeddah, after Riyadh reportedly received a request for help from Tehran. “The vessel, with 26 crew members aboard, was sailing in the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal when its engine failed due to water leakage,” according to the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news agency. It added that the tanker was out of danger and that no injuries or environmental damage were caused by the incident. Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran are arch-nemeses, backing opposing sides in several ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, most notably in Syria and Yemen. The House of Saud also supported US president Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear accord and re-impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic. The kingdom most recently backed the White House’s designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a a foreign terrorist organization.