Cruise Missile Strike On Saudi Airport Marks Start Of New Round Of Escalation In Middle East
On June 12, the Ansar Allah movement (also known as the Houthis) launched a cruise missile at Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia. The movement said that the missile had successfully hit the airport, which has a large military part to it.
Brig. Gen . Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the pro-Ansar Allah part of the Yemeni Armed Forces, said that “advanced U.S. air -defense systems” deployed inside the airport were not able to intercept the missile.
A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Col. Turki al-Malki, called the Yemeni movement a terrorist group and described the attack as a war crime.
Later, Ansar Allah’s TV channel AlMasirah released an infographic claiming that the launched missile has a maximum range of 2,500 km. the warhead a weight of 450kg and uses GPS guidance.
According to experts, the used missile may have in fact been an Iranian Soumar cruise missile assembled from parts in Yemen. The Soumar is a developed on the basis of the Soviet-designed Kh-55 subsonic air-launched cruise missile. Iran obtained the Kh-55 from Ukraine in the 2000s.
Ansar Allah has a track record of using precision-guided weapons. In 2017, they launched what is suspected to be an Iranian Soumar cruise missile at the Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE.
Two More Oil Tankers Attacked in Gulf, Iran Rescues Crews
[Editor’s note: The US is already blaming Iran and suggesting that at least one of these tankers has been hit by a torpedo. However, this may not be an attempt to start a war, rather it may simply be a cynical way of making massive profits from the international oil markets – the cost of a barrel went up several cents within hours of these attacks. If one had foreknowledge of the attacks, one could make a killing on the oil exchanges. If one or both of these ships was hit by a torpedo, it is far more likely to have come from a US or Israeli submarine than an Iranian craft. The fact that Iran benefits from a rise in the international oil price is ironic. Ian]
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FARS
Iran Voices Concern about Suspicious Incidentsin Sea of Oman amid Japanese PM’s Visit
FARS
Iran Voices Concern about Suspicious Incidents
The Iranian foreign ministry expressed concern about the suspicious incidents for the Japan-related oil vessels in the Sea of Oman concurrently with Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s visit to Tehran.
“We voice concern about the suspicious incidents which happened today for the oil tankers affiliated to Japan concurrently with a meeting between the Japanese prime minister and Supreme Leader (of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei),” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi wrote on his twitter page on Thursday.
He noted that Iran considers the incidents and the coincidence with Japanese prime minister’s trip to Tehran as against the regional and trans-regional efforts and stances to decrease tensions and establish tranquility in the region.
“Iran supports cooperation and talks in the region,” Mousavi said.
In relevant remarks on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also on his twitter page voiced suspicion about the incident for the oil tankers in the Sea of Oman, and reminded of the necessity for Tehran-proposed Regional Dialogue Forum.
He referred to the concurrency between reported attacks on Japan-related tankers” and the Japanese prime minister’s extensive talks with Ayatollah Khamenei, and wrote, “Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what likely transpired this morning.”
“Iran’s proposed Regional Dialogue Forum is imperative,” Zarif stressed.
All crew members of the two oil tankers which were hit in the Sea of Oman were saved by Iranian rescue teams on Thursday.
Iranian rescue vessels have picked up the 23 crew members of one of the tankers and 21 of the other from the sea and brought them to safety at Iran’s Jask, in the Southern Hormozgan Province, an informed source said on Thursday.
Earlier, media reports said explosions had occurred on the two oil tankers, apparently as a result of attacks .
Details about the incidents are still sketchy, but the ships are known to have sent distress signals to nearby ports and vessels.
While the US Navy claimed it had been assisting the tankers, the Iranian rescue vessel was first to reach them and rescue the crew, who had plunged into and were floating on the sea to avoid the fire.
The MT Front Altair had been loaded at a port in the Gulf of Oman with a petroleum product known as naptha , and was on its way to the Far East. Its crew of 23 is safe after being evacuated by the nearby Hyundai Dubai vessel.
Front Altair was loaded from Qatar with the flage of Marshal Islands and Kokuka Courageous was loaded from Saudi Arabia with a Panama flag.
Meanwhile, BSM Ship Management says its crew of 21 aboard the Kokuka Courageous carrying methanol has also been rescued in the Gulf of Oman by a nearby Iranian vessel after what it described as an “incident on board which resulted in damage to the ship’s hull starboard side”.
The Arabic-language al-Mayadeen reported that Front Altair oil tankers was fully drowned in the Sea of Oman after the incident.
Japan’s Trade Ministry said that the two oil tankers were reportedly attacked near the Strait of Hormuz which is located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman carried “Japan-related cargo”.
Meantime, an informed source in the Iranian Armed Forces said that Iranian Army sent several vessels and helicopters along with rescue teams to the damaged oil tankers upon their request for help.
After the incident, Brent oil crude jumped as much as 4.5% and was trading at $61.80 a barrel at 11:51 a.m. in Dubai. Stocks in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Abu Dhabi were all down more than 1%.
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