Iran denies as baseless and alarming, US accusations of being behind Gulf attacks

Iran said on Friday it was alarming and wrong of the United States to blame Tehran for attacks on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf, after an incident that has raised concerns about a new confrontation in the vital oil shipping route.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Washington would defend its forces and allies in the region, and the United States pressed its case as the UN Security Council met to address the incident -- the second in a month in the strategic shipping lane.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Friday that the US administration had "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence".

He accused it of seeking to "sabotage diplomacy" amid a visit to Iran by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and "cover up its economic terrorism against Iran" in enforcing crippling unilateral sanctions.

Washington released a video that it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind Thursday’s attacks near the Strait of Hormuz on the Norwegian-owned Front Altair, which was set ablaze, and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous.

Both vessels were adrift in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, after their crews abandoned ship following the attacks that caused a spike in oil prices.

A fire that had raged on the Front Altair, which carried a cargo of petrochemical feedstock naphtha, had been extinguished, the owner said. The blaze left a blackened scar along the hull.

About a fifth of the oil consumed globally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, shipped from Gulf energy producers, including Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter.

Washington has blamed Iran or its proxies for attacks on May 12 that crippled four oil tankers in the same area. It also said Tehran was behind May 14 drone strikes on two Saudi oil-pumping stations. Tehran has denied all the charges.

“These accusations are alarming,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, adding that blaming Iran for Thursday’s attacks was “the simplest and the most convenient way for Pompeo and other U.S. officials.”

“We are responsible for ensuring the security of the Strait and we have rescued the crew of those attacked tankers in the shortest possible time,” he said, Iranian state radio reported.