US: Video Shows Iran Removing Mine from Oil Tanker

 

The United States military has released a video it says shows an Iranian boat removing a mine from one of the two oil tankers² attacked in the Gulf³ of Oman.

The two tankers, the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous⁴ and the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair, were attacked Thursday in the important waterway. Both carried oil products. After the attack, the Front Altair burned for hours, sending up long clouds of thick, black smoke into the air.

A military spokesman, Captain Bill Urban, said black-and-white video and also photographs show an Iranian Revolutionary Guard boat next to the Kokuka Courageous. He said the video shows the Iranians removing an unexploded mine.

Speaking later Friday with Fox News, U.S. President Donald Trump⁶ spoke⁵ about the video and Iran. He said, "that was their boat. That was them, and they didn't want the evidence left behind."

In Tokyo, the owner of Kokuka Courageous said Friday that the tanker¹ had been attacked twice. One explosion, the company said, took place near the engine room of the ship and at another place near the back.

Company president Yutaka Katada said the crew saw a “flying object” just before the second explosion. The report suggests that the tanker may not have been damaged by mines. Katada also said the crew saw an Iranian naval⁷ ship nearby. He did not say whether this was before or after the attacks.

Thursday’s attack is similar to an attack in May on four oil tankers near the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. U.S. officials accused Iran at the time of targeting the ships with magnetic mines. The explosions from the mines were designed to disable ships, not to sink them.

Iran has denied being involved in the attack, accusing the U.S. of carrying out an “Iranophobic campaign” against it. However, Iran has used mines against oil tankers in 1987 and 1988, in what become known as the “Tanker War.” The U.S. Navy, at the time, escorted ships through the Gulf area.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran for the attacks on Thursday. He said the U.S. made the judgement “based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise⁸ needed to execute the operation, [and] recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping⁹.” He added that no other group in the area has the resources and the ability to carry out such an attack.

At the United Nations, the Security Council met to discuss the tanker incidents late Thursday at the request of the U.S. but took no action.

Tension has been rising in the area because Iran has warned that it is ready to break its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The Trump administration withdrew from that agreement last year.

Under the deal reached with China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and the U.S., Iran had agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

In May, the U.S. sent an aircraft carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf in response to, what it said, were threats from Iran.

The latest attack on the two tankers happened as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting with Iranian leaders in an effort to lower tensions in the area. Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned after the meeting that, while it does not seek nuclear weapons, “America could not do anything” to stop Iran if it did.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

tanker - n. ship that is designed to carry liquid, like oil

escort –v. to accompany to give guidance or protection

enrichment - n. process of increasing natural uranium for nuclear use

sanction - n. action taken to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country

response - n. something that is done as a reaction to something else

1 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

2 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。