Two oil tankers, one owned by Norway and the other by Japan, were struck by blasts in the Sea of Oman on Thursday. The US was quick to point the finger of blame at the Islamic Republic, a month after it accused Tehran of involvement in attacks that crippled four tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. US president Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran was behind Thursday’s blasts without providing evidence to back up his claim.

Hatami went on to say that Iran is a strong and law-abiding country and will take responsibility for its actions. These allegations are the continuation of US efforts against the Iranian Armed Forces who play a major role in ensuring security in the region and international waterways.

Another important point is that US has not made any direct military intervention in the past 10 years; rather, they have used proxy groups such as ISIL to attain their goals, said the defense minister, adding, “what happened in the Persian Gulf, Sea of Oman and the port of Fujairah were very similar, in terms of its management and type, to the US behaviors which are aimed at creating insecurity in waterways to serve their own interests.”

Pointing to a video published by the US which accuses Iran of conducting the attacks, Hatami said that neither the date nor the place of capturing the video is clear and it cannot be verified. When Iranian ships were dispatched to the place to conduct rescue operations, US had the opportunity to capture the video and show them in a way that they like, he noted, adding, “such videos don’t carry any authenticity.”

He further described the current situation as ‘complex’, calling on all to follow it with careful attention.

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Reacting to the claim in a statement on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the claim stems from the destructive policies of the anti-Iranian ‘B-team’, comprising Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“It is not surprising to see Bolton make such a ludicrous claim in a meeting with two members of a team with a long track record of anti-Iran policies,” said Mousavi.

He went on to remind Bolton and other warmongers and crisis-seekers that “the strategic patience, high vigilance and full defensive readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which arise from the will of a great and resilient nation, will prevent them from hatching their sinister plots to cause chaos in the region.”

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Although the real reason behind the incident has not been revealed yet, the early reports, citing eyewitnesses, further suggested that American and French warplanes have been seen flying over the port at the time of the incident.

The blasts were heard between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. local time (00:00 — 03:00 GMT), the broadcaster reported, adding that from seven to 10 oil tankers were in flames.

Despite Al-Mayadeen’s news that was picked up and reported by other media in a few minutes, the UAE government hastily denied the reports, insisting that the port was functioning as usual; however, it had to admit to the security catastrophe sooner or later.

From denial to scandal

The UAE, later on Sunday, confirmed that four commercial vessels were hit by sabotage near the emirate of Fujairah. The Persian Gulf state gave no details on the nature of the sabotage or who was behind it.

Saudi Arabia said on Monday that two Saudi oil tankers were among vessels targeted by the attack.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that while the attack did not lead to any casualties or an oil spill, it caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels.

UAE called on the international community and international organizations concerned with maritime navigation to assume their political and legal responsibilities to prevent such acts by any parties attempting to undermine maritime traffic safety and security, adding that such irresponsible acts will increase tension and conflicts in the region and expose its peoples to great danger

Hiding security crisis in UAE

The fact is that United Arab Emirates officials have been trying to cover up the existence of a major security void in the port of Fujairah since the very first moment of the incident and hide a major security crisis in this important harbor to misguide the general public.

In fact, all media manipulation and mobilization of propaganda to prevent the spread of massive explosions in the port of Fujairah by Abu Dhabi authorities was carried out for this purpose: Emiratis intended to hide the incident on this scale by exploiting their media and advertising facilities.

Another point to be considered is that the news of major explosions was a few hours after the media incident, and this is another big scandal for Abu Dhabi, as many political experts and observers believe that the country may have seen similar incidents in the past, and has hidden them from the public by its dominance on the media.

Rage over revelation of security gap

But another issue is that UAE officials are quite anxious about the emergence of a major “security gap” in their country.

Despite many efforts and mobilization of all the media and propaganda tools, Abu Dhabi did not succeed in preventing the publication of the news.

The reason that this issue has been so important for Emiratis is that the country has been killing the innocent and defenseless people of Yemen along with the Saudi insurgent regime, and it has previously been targeted by Yemen’s ballistic missiles and popular Yemeni committees.

Therefore, Abu Dhabi officials are deeply concerned that large-scale explosions at the port of Fujairah have exposed the security gaps in the port to the public, and there is a possibility that Yemeni groups, in response to the numerous Emirati aggressions, will target Fujairah in the future, as they have previously targeted Abu Dhabi.

Emirates worry about similar attacks

There is also a major concern with Emirati officials that similar attacks may occur in the future on the country’s economic or even military infrastructures. This has also become a concern to the Saudi authorities as Emirati’s main allies.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are well aware that waging massive attacks on their military and economic infrastructure can greatly affect foreign investments in these countries.

Therefore, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, while always trying to make their countries a focal point of peace and stability in the region, are now facing a lot of military and economic concerns, and the blasts of the UAE’s Fujairah port have increased and intensified such worries.

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