US-Iran Tensions at Boiling Point After Saudi, Emirati Ships ‘Sabotaged’

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates say that four commercial vessels – including two oil tankers belonging to Saudi Arabia – were “significantly damaged” in attacks off the coast of the port city of Fujairah. The announcement comes as tensions run high between Iran and the United States, which recently dispatched an aircraft carrier to the Gulf along with B-52 bombers and additional Patriot anti-ballistic-missile batteries. The “sabotage operations” occurred just days after Israel’s Mossad reportedly provided the US with intelligence about an Iranian plot to target American interests in the Middle East. According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, one of the targeted ships was en route to be loaded with crude before continuing to the US. Neither Riyadh nor Abu Dhabi pointed a finger directly at Tehran, although the general-secretary of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council described the event as a “serious escalation.” Iran recently threatened to disrupt global oil supplies by closing the vital Strait of Hormuz and announced that it was reducing its “voluntary” commitments stipulated in the 2015 nuclear deal, from which the US withdrew last year. Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini reiterated the bloc’s intention to salvage the accord, and called on rival powers to avoid direct confrontations. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is slated to travel to Brussels on Monday to discuss Iran with EU officials. The top US diplomat will then carry on to Sochi, where he will talk Tehran with Russian President Vladimir Putin.