(dpa/TBI Africa.com) Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday said recent sabotage attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates were aimed at provoking tensions in the Middle East.
The incident near the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping lanes, came up in talks between Zarif and his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi.
“We said that we had previously predicted that such actions would occur to create tensions in the region,’’ Zarif said about the encounter.
On Sunday, the UAE said that four commercial vessels were targeted in an incident off the coast of Fujairah, however there were no casualties.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were significantly damaged.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the incident was aimed at undermining the security of oil supplies to consumers worldwide
He, however, did not say how the ships were sabotaged or who was responsible.
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf with the Arabian Sea.
It runs between Iran in the North, and the UAE and Oman in the South.
Iranian President Hassan Rowhani has previously made veiled threats to block this route to retaliate against U.S. attempts to stop Iranian oil exports.
On Tuesday, Zarif also talked with Swaraj about the impact of renewed U.S. sanctions that require New Delhi to stop purchases of Iranian oil.
Iran announced recently it was partially withdrawing from a 2015 agreement intended to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb.
The U.S. had also exited the deal.
