UAE says will show restraint after tanker attacks, Iran a concern
The United Arab Emirates will show restraint after attacks
on oil tankers off its coast and is committed to de-escalation during a
“difficult situation” caused by Iranian behavior in the region, a senior
official said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said he
would not speculate about who was behind Sunday’s sabotage acts on four
vessels, including two Saudi tankers, near Fujairah emirate while an
investigation was underway and due to be completed within days.
“We need to emphasize caution and good judgment. It is easy
to throw accusations but it is a difficult situation, there are serious issues
and among them is Iranian behavior,” he said, mentioning concern about Iran’s
missiles and regional policy.
Iran has distanced itself from the attack off Fujairah, one
of the world’s largest bunkering hubs lying just outside the Strait of Hormuz.
US national security agencies believe proxies sympathetic to or working for
Iran may have been behind it, a US official has said.
Gargash said the attack took place in UAE territorial waters
but declined to comment on whether the OPEC producer and regional trading hub
was beefing up security after the incident.
Saudi Arabia shared the concerns of its fellow Sunni Muslim
ally that Shiite Iran has for a long time been undermining stability in the
region, he said, and the United States’ commitment to its allies in the region
is “very strong”.
“US sanctions on Iran are biting, and biting in a very
effective way,” Gargash said.
The attacks took place against a backdrop of US-Iranian
tension following Washington’s decision this month to try to cut Iran’s oil
exports to zero and to beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to
what it said were Iranian threats.