The United Arab Emirates has told the UN Security Council a “state actor” was most likely behind attacks on four tankers off its coast.
The 12 May attacks bore the hallmarks of a “sophisticated and co-ordinated operation”, according to its report.
The UAE did not say who it thought was behind the attacks, which also targeted vessels from Saudi Arabia and Norway.
The US has accused Iran of being behind the attacks but Tehran denies this and has called for an investigation.
The attacks took place within UAE territorial waters east of the emirate of Fujairah, just outside the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, in what the UAE called a “sabotage attack”.
They exacerbated long-standing tensions between Iran, and the US and its allies in the Gulf.
According to the UAE-led investigation, which was presented to a closed session of the UN Security Council in New York, the attacks showed a “high degree of sophistication”.
“The attacks required the expert navigation of fast boats” which “were able to intrude into UAE territorial waters”, the report’s preliminary findings say.
Divers were used to attack the ships using limpet mines in order to cause damage but not cause a major explosion, the presentation says.
There were no casualties but Saudi Arabia has said two of its ships suffered “significant” damage. Another tanker was Norwegian-registered, while the fourth was UAE-flagged.
There are two aspects to the tensions under way in the Gulf. One practical – what the Americans insist is a real threat from Iran and its allies in the region – and a political one – a push by Washington and its key Gulf allies to paint Iran as an imminent threat to peace.
The latest UAE-led findings on the tanker attacks last month have to be seen in this context.
At the UN they – along with Saudi Arabia and Norway – blamed a “state actor” but stopped short of specifically naming Iran. But then US officials have already said Iran was responsible, with reports that the US Navy tracked a flotilla of small Iranian vessels from which they believe divers operated to mine the ships.
So the accusations are not new as such, though made in a more formal setting.
But they underscore the pressure-cooker atmosphere in the region with any mistake or misunderstanding by either side risking a serious military engagement.
