The U.S. has received evidence from Mossad, Israel’s secret service, linking Iran to the sabotage of four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates last month, according to a report by Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster.
Washington is to present the intelligence to the UN Security Council in coming days.
An unnamed source told Kan the attacks were “a pretty good commando operation”.
The UAE initially denied media reports of explosion. Hours later, however, the it confirmed that four commercial ships had been “subjected to sabotage operations” but stopped short of calling out suspects.
A day later Saudi Arabia said that two of its oil tankers were among the four vessels. Energy minister Khalid al-Falih said one them had been on its way to load crude from Ras Tanura port for delivery to Saudi Aramco customers in the U.S.
The explosions slightly damaged two other oil tankers, a Norwegian-registered tanker and another UAE-flagged.
Iranian media, notably the Kayhan newspaper, cheered on the attacks as a warning to the U.S. its forces in the region.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Norway have delivered a joint report on the incident to the UN.
President Trump’s security adviser, John Bolton, said on Wednesday, May 29 that naval mines “almost certainly from Iran” were used to attack oil tankers off Fujairah, and warned the Islamic Republic against further operations.
Bolton asserted the “prudent and responsible” approach taken by the U.S., which has beefed up its military presence in the region, made it clear to Iran and its proxies that such actions risked a “very strong” U.S. response.
Tehran has denied involvement in the attacks and Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, dismissed Bolton’s latest remarks as “ludicrous”, according to the Fars news agency.