UNSC assigns no blame despite UAE's claims on oil tanker attacks

A UN Security Council's meeting on the recent vessel attacks near Fujairah has yielded no result, as member states refused to blame any party despite the UAE's claim that a "state actor" was behind the incident.

The United Arab Emirates told council members on Thursday that attacks on four tankers off its coast on May 12 bore the hallmarks of a “sophisticated and coordinated operation,” but it did not name any particular country.

In a document on the briefing to Security Council members, the UAE, joined by Norway and Saudi Arabia, did not say who they believed was behind the attacks and did not mention Iran, which has been accused by the United States of being directly responsible.

The three countries said the attacks required expert navigation of fast boats and trained divers who likely placed limpet mines with a high degree of precision on the vessels under the waterline.

"While investigations are still ongoing, these facts are strong indications that the four attacks were part of a sophisticated and coordinated operation carried out by an actor with significant operational capacity, most likely a state actor," the document said.

"We believe the responsibility for this attack lies on the shoulders of Iran," Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador, Abdallah al-Mouallimi, told reporters after the briefing.

However, Russian Deputy Ambassador Vladimir Safronkov told reporters that no evidence was presented in the briefing linking Iran to the attacks.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions. This investigation will be continued," he said.

After initial reports of the Fujairah explosions emerged on May 12, the UAE denied there had been any incident but later on confirmed that four commercial vessels had been targeted by “sabotage operations” near its territorial waters.

Saudi Arabia announced a day later that two of its vessels had sustained damage in the mysterious attacks.

Israeli reports then stated that Mossad had collected material at the site of the alleged sabotage, and passed the alleged evidence to US intelligence agencies, prompting some American officials to pin the attacks on Iran.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed the "fabricated" claim and described the attacks as "false flag" operations aimed at accusing Iran.

SS