"US Interests" needs to be defined and to the extent, US Assets are deployed. The oil tankers appear to have received mischief that has caused a variety of damage. None of the ships are sunk. Actually, it reminds me of the attack on the USS Cole only less so. These are not attacks by any country. There are issues, but, not with Iran. I believe they are more or less terrorist attacks.
I remind the USA is EXPORTING petroleum products. THEREFORE, the "USA Interest" can be reassessed to realize the exports can be used best at home.
The fact the UAE doesn't see any involvement by a country is correct. There are some entities at work and that is not yet known. This is not an attack by Iran. I would expect something along the lines of Houthis or their sympathizers. The possibility Daesh has an interest in such mischief has to be considered as well.
The attacks on Saudi tankers may be somewhat new, but, Saudi Arabia needs to examine why those attacks are taking place. This does not require B52 bombers. Trump is not using the USA military prudently.
The UAE is stating they don't know who is carrying out attacks on Saudi tankers. The USA has no reason to openly blame Iran if there is evidence otherwise. The two countries of Iran and Saudi Arabia do need a peace table. They are locked in conflict with opposing world powers supporting them and it is a proxy war more than anything that settles an argument between the two countries of faith.
May 13, 2019
By Anthony Dipaola and Abbas Al Lawati
Saudi Arabia (click here) said two of its oil tankers were attacked while sailing toward the Persian Gulf, adding to regional tensions as the U.S. increases pressure on Iran.
The Saudi tankers were damaged in “a sabotage attack” off the United Arab Emirates coast on Sunday, state-run Saudi Press Agency reported. The vessels were approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important chokepoint for oil shipments. The U.A.E. foreign ministry on Sunday reported an attack on four commercial ships near its territorial waters. No one has claimed responsibility....
This is a war that has no purpose. The Trump Middle East peace plan doesn't seem to be accomplishing anything, except, higher tensions and escalation in violence.
This is from Aljazeera. Armed drones are not terrorist groups. It might be Hezbollah with it's new drug finances, but, those drones are not produced by Hezbollah. They would have to be purchased from a major power. There were some drones Israel shot down a while ago that were operated by Hamas. But, then again, they weren't produced by Hamas. They might be USA drones that were shot down and rehabbed. But, these drone attacks are more or less proxy wars between major powers.
Iran and Saudi Arabia need to sit down at peace talks and end this mess.
I believe the UN has a small arms convention that needs to come into force with a peace talk initiative.
May 14, 2019
Saudi Arabia has said armed drones (click here) struck two oil pumping stations that belong to the country's state-run oil giant Aramco while other assaults targeted energy infrastructure elsewhere in the kingdom.
The attack on the pumping stations took place early on Tuesday, causing minor damage to one of the stations supplying a pipeline running from its oil-rich Eastern Province to the Yanbu Port on the Red Sea, Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The fire that broke out was later brought under control but Aramco stopped pumping oil through the pipeline....
