Part 3: International Response to Tanker Crisis

June 24, 2019

The international community had mixed reactions to the attacks on two tankers, which took place in the Gulf of Oman on June 13. Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) shared the U.S. assessment that Iran was responsible. “We have done our own intelligence assessment and the phrase we used is almost certain ... We don’t believe anyone else could have done this,” said British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also blamed Tehran, “The Iranian regime did not respect the Japanese prime minister’s visit to Tehran and while he was there replied to his efforts by attacking two tankers, one of which was Japanese.” In a tweet, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash criticized Tehran’s response to the allegations.

In Japan, the owners of the Kokuka Courageous, one of the tankers attacked, disputed the Pentagon's explanation. “I do not think there was a time bomb or an object attached to the side of the ship,” said Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo, which owns the tanker. “Our crew said that the ship was attacked by a flying object.” 

Germany was also hesitant to accept the U.S. findings. “The video is not enough. We can understand what is being shown, sure, but to make a final assessment, this is not enough for me,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. He called for a more comprehensive review of the evidence.

Russia, which has closer ties to Iran, urged restraint and called for “a sober appraisal of the situation.” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov warned, "Such incidents can undermine the foundations of the world economy. That's why it's hardly possible to accept baseless accusations in this situation."

 

Joint Statement by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States on Yemen and the Region

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America express their concern over escalating tensions in the region and the dangers posed by Iranian destabilizing activity to peace and security both in Yemen and the broader region, including attacks on the oil tankers at Fujairah on 12 May and in the Gulf of Oman on 13 June. These attacks threaten the international waterways that we all rely on for shipping. Ships and their crews must be allowed to pass through international waters safely. We call on Iran to halt any further actions which threaten regional stability, and urge diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions.

—June 24, 2019
 

United Kingdom

 

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt

“We have done our own intelligence assessment and the phrase we used is almost certain ... We don’t believe anyone else could have done this.”

—June 14, 2019, in an interview with BBC’s Andrew Marr show according to Reuters

 

"We are going to make our own independent assessment, we have our processes to do that. We have no reason not to believe the American assessment and our instinct is to believe it, because they are our closest ally."

—June 14, 2019, in an interview with BBC radio

 

“This is deeply worrying and comes at a time of already huge tension. I have been in contact with Pompeo and, while we will be making our own assessment soberly and carefully, our starting point is obviously to believe our U.S. allies.”

—June 13, 2019, in a statement according to Reuters

 

Germany

 

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas

“The video is not enough. We can understand what is being shown, sure, but to make a final assessment, this is not enough for me.”

—June 14, 2019, in a statement to reporters during in Oslo according to Reuters

 

Japan

 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

“A passage to de-escalating tension is difficult, but I hope to continue working for peace and stability in the region and the world.”

—June 13, 2019, during a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

 

 

Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese Government Yoshihide Suga

“It is true that we are exchanging information in close communication with the U.S., but we are still in the process of gathering information, so I’ll refrain from making any prejudgments.”

“We are taking this extremely seriously and my message to Iran is that if they have been involved it is a deeply unwise escalation which poses a real danger to the prospects of peace and stability in the region,”

—June 13, 2019, in a statement according to the Reuters

 

Saudi Arabia

 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

“The Iranian regime did not respect the Japanese prime minister’s visit to Tehran and while he was there replied to his efforts by attacking two tankers, one of which was Japanese.”

—June 15, 2019, in a an interview with Asharq al-Awsat newspaper according to Reuters

 

Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Salman

United Arab Emirates 

 

Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyah

“Honestly we can’t point the blame at any country because we don’t have evidence. If there is a country that has the evidence, then I’m convinced that the international community will listen to it. But we need to make sure the evidence is precise and convincing.”

—June 26, 2019, during an interview in Moscow

 

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash

 

Kuwait

 

Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah

“This is the most recent event in a series of acts of sabotage that are threatening the security of maritime corridors as well as threatening energy security of the world.”

—June 13, 2019, in an address to the UN Security Council

 

Russia

 

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov

"Such incidents can undermine the foundations of the world economy. That's why it's hardly possible to accept baseless accusations in this situation."

"We always urge a sober appraisal of the situation and to wait for more or less convincing evidence to appear." 

—June 16, 2019, in an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency according to Radio Farda

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov

“Lately we have been seeing a strengthening campaign of political, psychological, and military pressure on Iran. We wouldn’t want the events that have just happened, which are tragic and shook the world oil market, to be used speculatively to further aggravate the situation in an anti-Iranian sense.”

—June 13, 2019, in an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency according to Reuters

 

United Nations

 

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

“It’s very important to know the truth and it’s very important that responsibilities are clarified. Obviously that can only be done if there is an independent entity that verifies those facts.”

—June 14, 2019, in a statement to reporters according to Reuters

 

"I strongly condemn any attack against civilian vessels."

"Facts must be established, and responsibilities clarified."

—June 13, 2019, during a meeting on the U.N.'s cooperation with the Arab League

 

United States

 

President Donald Trump

“So far, it’s (recent Iranian attacks) been very minor,”

“If you look at the rhetoric now compared to the days when they were signing that agreement [the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from], where it was always ‘death to America, death to America, we will destroy America, we will kill America,’ I’m not hearing that too much anymore, and I don’t expect to.”

—June 17, 2019, in an interview with Time 

 

“Well, Iran did do it.”

”You know they did it because you saw the boat. I guess one of the mines didn’t explode and it’s got essentially Iran written all over it.”

“That was their boat, that was them. They didn’t want the evidence left behind.”

“They’re not going to be closing it (Straight of Hormuz). If it’s closed, it’s not going to be closed for long. And they know it.”

—June 14, 2019, in a telephone interview on Fox & Friends

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

“These were attacks by The Islamic Republic of Iran on commercial shipping, on the freedom of navigation, with a clear intent to deny transit through the strait.”

"There's no doubt. The intelligence community has lots of data, lots of evidence. The world will come to see much of it, but the American people should rest assured we have high confidence with respect to who conducted these attacks as well as half a dozen other attacks throughout the world."

“What you should assume is that we're going to guarantee freedom of navigation throughout the strait. This is an international challenge. This is important to the entire globe. The United States is going to make sure that we take all the actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise, that achieve that outcome.”

—June 14, 2019, in an interview with “Fox News Sunday”

 

“It is the assessment by the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today. This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication."

“This is only the latest in a series of attacks instigated by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its surrogates against American and allied interests, and they should be understood in the context of 40 years of unprovoked aggression against freedom-loving nations.”

"Taken as a whole these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran.”

—June 13, 2019, in a State Department press conference

 

Acting Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen

 

Some of the information in this article was originally published on June 17, 2019.