Bolton: Iran Behind Recent Gulf Attacks on 4 Vessels

US National Security Adviser John Bolton says that damage to four shipping vessels – including two Saudi oil tankers – earlier this month off the coast of the United Arab Emirates was caused by “naval mines almost certainly from Iran.” Hours later, Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for drone strikes against oil pumping stations deep within Saudi Arabia. Riyadh thereafter called two emergency summits – one for Arab League representatives and the other for member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – on May 30 to discuss growing regional tensions. On a visit to the UAE, Bolton likewise attributed the recent firing of a Katyusha rocket at Baghdad’s Green Zone – which struck about a mile away from the US Embassy – to Tehran’s Shi’ite proxies in Iraq. “These attacks were unfortunately consistent with the very serious threat information that we had been obtaining,” said Bolton, who added that “it is one reason we increased our deterrent capability in the region.” The latter comments were in reference to US President Donald Trump’s decision to send an aircraft carrier to the Gulf along with a squadron of B-52 bombers and Patriot anti-missile defense batteries. Most recently, the White House instructed the Pentagon to deploy 1,500 additional troops to the Middle East. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have skyrocketed since President Trump in April scrapped a sanctions waiver program that had allowed eight countries to continue purchasing Iranian crude. In the ensuing weeks, the Islamic Republic’s oil exports have fallen by half – to about 500,000 barrels per day – with both India and Turkey announcing that they have stopped buying the product.