Saudi crown prince accuses Iran of twin tanker attacks

Saudi Prince accuses Iran of twin oil tanker attacks, saying he “won’t hesitate” to tackle any threats to the kingdom.

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman said he won’t hesitate to protect his country’s vital interests. Picture: AFP

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he “won’t hesitate” to tackle threats to the kingdom, in his first comment amid ongoing tensions with rival Iran following attacks on oil tankers in a vital Gulf shipping channel.

“We do not want a war in the region … But we won’t hesitate to deal with any threat to our people, our sovereignty, our territorial integrity and our vital interests,” Prince Mohammed said in excerpts published early Sunday of an interview to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

“The Iranian regime did not respect the presence of the Japanese prime minister as a guest in Tehran and responded to his (diplomatic) efforts by attacking two tankers, one of which was Japanese,” Prince Mohammed told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, referring to the attacks in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.

The twin attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman sent crude prices soaring amid a tense standoff between Iran and the US.

The Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous was carrying highly flammable methanol through the Gulf of Oman when it was rocked by explosions, causing a blaze that was quickly extinguished.

US President Donald Trump said the twin attack, which also targeted a tanker owned by Oslo-listed company Frontline, had Iran “written all over it”.

Tehran has vehemently denied any involvement.

Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, is a bitter regional rival of Iran. Iran has repeatedly warned in the past that it could block the strategic Hormuz Strait in a relatively low-tech, high-impact countermeasure to any attack by the United States.

Doing so would disrupt oil tankers travelling out of the Gulf region to the Indian Ocean and global export routes.

AFP