Washington DC, June 18: The United States military has on Tuesday released some new images that showed the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) removing unexploded mine from a Japanese-owned oil tanker, following the last week’s two oil tankers attack in the Gulf of Oman.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, the images which were released on Monday showed a hole on the Kokuka Courageous vessel’s side. The latest release of images follows the last Thursday’s released grainy video which Washington said depicted Iran’s IRGC trying to remove an unexploded mine from the Japanese vessel.
The US has blamed Tehran for the suspected and reported damaged oil tankers attacks near the disputed Strait of Hormuz, leaving one of the vessels ablaze and both adrift.
In an official statement, including some still images, the US army’s Central Command said, “Iran is responsible for the attack based on video evidence and the resources and proficiency needed to quickly remove the unexploded limpet mine.”
Earlier on May 12, the US has blamed Iran for similar oil vessels attacks off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The US has already tightened sanctions over Iran and also moved to cut off its oil production to “zero” since President Donald Trump withdrew America from the landmark 2015 international nuclear deal, the International Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which aims to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange of sanctions relief.
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