The limpet mines used to attack a Japanese-owned oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz last week bore 'a striking resemblance' to similar mines displayed by Iran, a U.S. Navy explosives expert said Wednesday, stopping short of directly blaming Tehran for the assault. Iran has denied being involved
1 / 18Persian Gulf TensionsJournalists take pictures of a magnet the U.S. Navy says came from a limpet mine that didn't explode on a Japanese-owned oil tanker at a 5th Fleet base, during a trip organized by the Navy for journalists, near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Cmdr. Sean Kido of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said Wednesday that the limpet mine used on a Japanese-owned oil tanker last week"bears a striking resemblance" to similar Iranian mines. U.
Meanwhile, a rocket hit an oil-drilling site in Iraq's southern Basra province early on Wednesday, striking inside a compound housing energy giant Exxon Mobil and other foreign oil companies and wounding three local workers, one seriously, Iraqi officials said. All this has raised fears that a miscalculation or further rise in tensions could push the U.S. and Iran into an open conflict, some 40 years after Tehran's Islamic Revolution.
Kido declined to elaborate. Iran's mission to the U.N. declined to comment, referring reporters instead to remarks by Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami, who said allegations about Tehran's involvement in the tanker attacks was an unfair accusation and"totally a lie" meant to tarnish Iran's image.
"The damage we observed is consistent with a limpet mine attack; it is not consistent with an external flying object hitting the ship," Kido said.
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