Saudi Arabia’s energy minister says two Saudi oil tankers hit in ‘sabotage attack’ off UAE have ‘significant damage’.4 hours ago

Saudi Arabia says two of its oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates(UAE) in attacks that caused “significant damage” to the vessels.

One of the ships was en route to pick up Saudi oil to take to the United States, Saudi Energy MinisterKhalid al-Falih said on Monday.

The announcement by al-Falih came as the UAE’s regional allies condemned the reported sabotage on Sunday of four ships off the coast of the port city of Fujairah.

On Sunday, Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired reports of explosions at the city’s port but UAE authorities said the reports were inaccurate.

Emirati officials have declined to elaborate on the nature of the sabotage to the ships or say who might have been responsible.

The reports come as the US warned ships that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the region, and as the US is deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf to counter what it called “threats from Tehran”.

UAE says four ships subjected to ‘sabotage’ off east coast

Shortly after the Saudi announcement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry called for further clarification about what exactly happened with the Saudi tankers.

The ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying there should be more information about the incident.

Mousavi also warned against any “conspiracy orchestrated by ill-wishers” and “adventurism by foreigners” to undermine the maritime region’s stability and security.

Tensions have risen in the year since President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, restoring US sanctions that have pushed Iran’s economy into crisis.

Last week, Iran warned it would begin enriching uranium at higher levels in 60 days if world powers failed to negotiate new terms for the deal.

In his statement, al-Falih said the attacks on the two tankers happened at 6am on Sunday.

“One of the two vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil from the port of Ras Tanura, to be delivered to Saudi Aramco’s customers in the United States,” al-Falih said.

“Fortunately, the attack didn’t lead to any casualties or oil spill; however, it caused significant damage to the structures of the two vessels.”

Saudi Arabia did not identify the vessels involved, nor did it say whom it suspected of carrying out the alleged sabotage.

Underlining the regional risk, the general-secretary of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council described the alleged sabotage as a “serious escalation” in an overnight statement.

“Such irresponsible acts will increase tension and conflicts in the region and expose its peoples to great danger,” Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani said.

Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen’s internationally recognised government similarly condemned the alleged sabotage.

A statement on Sunday from the UAE’s Foreign Ministry put the ships near the country’s territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, east of the port of Fujairah.

It said it was investigating “in cooperation with local and international bodies.”

Earlier on Sunday, Lebanon’s pro-Iran satellite channel Al-Mayadeen, quoting “Gulf sources”, reported that a series of explosions had struck Fujairah’s port.

State and semi-official media in Iran picked up the report from Al-Mayadeen, which later published the names of vessels it claimed were involved.

AP news agency, after speaking to Emirati officials and local witnesses, found the report about explosions at the port to be unsubstantiated.

Fujairah’s port is about 140km south of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Gulf through which a third of all oil at sea is traded.

The facility handles oil for bunkering and shipping, as well as general and bulk cargo.

It is seen as strategically located, serving shipping routes in the Gulf, Indian subcontinent and Africa.

Sunday’s incident comes after the US Maritime Administration, a division of the US Transportation Department, warned on Thursday that Iran could target commercial sea traffic.

“Since early May, there is an increased possibility that Iran and/or its regional proxies could take action against US and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure, after recently threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz,” the warning read.READ MORE

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“Iran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or US military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait or the Persian Gulf.” 

Early on Sunday, the agency issued a new warning to sailors about the alleged sabotage, while stressing “the incident has not been confirmed”.

It urged shippers to exercise caution in the area for the next week.

It remains unclear if the previous warning from the US Maritime Administration is the same perceived threat that prompted the White House to order the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region on May 4.

Agencies

Sweden will reopen a preliminary investigation into a rape allegation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Julian Assange is to be investigated in Sweden over a rape case dating from August 2010, prosecutors announced on Monday.

The WikiLeaks founder, currently held in Belmarsh prison in London, now faces possible extradition from Britain.

“My assessment is there is still probably cause [to investigate] rape and a lesser offence,” Eva-Marie Persson, Sweden’s deputy director of public prosecutions, said.

Sweden had first issued an arrest warrant and declared Assange an “internationally wanted suspect” in November 2010.

But after Assange skipped bail in the UK and went into hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the extradition order was impossible to enforce.

In November 2016, Assange was interviewed by Ecuadorian prosecutors after an agreement was reached between Sweden and Ecuador to cooperate in criminal investigations.

Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks for skipping UK bail

“Mr Assange was recently sentenced to 50 weeks in prison [in the UK],” Persson said. “He will serve 25 weeks before he is eligible for release.

“My intention is to submit to the district court today to appoint a public defender. It is also my intention in the near future [to ask] that the district court order Mr Assange remanded in absentia.

“I will proceed to issue a European arrest warrant providing for him to be extradited to Sweden after serving his sentence in the UK,” she said, at a press conference in Stockholm.

The US also wants to extradite Assange over his publishing of leaked military videos showing the killing of civilians in Iraq, as well as thousands of other documents. Persson said she expected the US to submit a formal extradition request to the UK no later than June 14, 2019. A decision on which extradition request would be given greater priority “will be left entirely to the British authorities”.

“If he’s extradited to Sweden, he must not be extradited to a third country without the consent of the British authorities,” she said.

“A future Brexit will not, according to available information, impact on the case.”

Julian Assange’s Swedish lawyer said he was “very surprised” by the decision and said his client was innocent.

“I do not understand the Swedish prosecutor’s… reasoning for reopening a 10-year old case,” Per E Samuelsen told Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Swedish prosecutors had filed preliminary charges in 2010 after two women said they were victims of sex crimes committed by Assange when he visited the country.READ MORE

Julian Assange to fight extradition to US

Seven years later, a case of alleged sexual misconduct was dropped when the statute of limitations expired.

That left a rape allegation, and the case was closed as it could not be pursued while Assange was living at the embassy and there was no prospect of bringing him to Sweden.

The statute of limitations on that case does not expire until August 17, 2020.

“The reason the previous investigation was closed was not through lack of evidence, but because Julian Assange was in the Ecuadorian embassy,” said Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan.

Swedish prosecutors could interview Assange in prison via videolink, they said. “While Mr Assange is serving his sentence in the UK, I intend to further the investigation as much as possible,” Persson said. 

“I would like to make the following very clear: My decision to re-open the preliminary investigation is not an indication of whether to file an indictment with the court,” Persson added.

In a statement, WikiLeaks said there had been “considerable political pressure” on Swedish prosecutors to reopen their investigation. “Its reopening will give Julian a chance to clear his name,” Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

Assange has denied the allegations against him, asserting that they were politically motivated and that the sex with the two women who have accused him was consensual.

The 47-year-old Australian met the women in connection with a lecture in August 2010 in Stockholm. One was involved in organising an event for Sweden’s centre-left Social Democratic Party and offered to host Assange at her apartment. The other was in the audience.

Assange left Sweden for Britain in September 2010. In November that year, a Stockholm court approved a request to detain Assange for questioning. 

He was arrested by British police on April 11 after a change in leadership in Ecuador revoked his political asylum. A letter signed by more than 70 MPs, across the political divide, urged Home Secretary Sajid Javid to prioritise any extradition request to Sweden over any from the United States.

“There are a couple of factors Sajid Javid has to consider,” added Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan. “There is the relative seriousness of the offences – for the American case, that’s about official secrets and treason – and in the Swedish case, an allegation of rape – and it’s up to the home secretary to compare those and decide which is of greater seriousness.

“Then there’s also the issue of chronology – which extradition request came first. And it also seems in the Extradition Act that there is a distinction between European and non-European requests – the suggestion seems to be that a European arrest warrant request would get precendence over a non-European one, but given the close relationship between Britain and the United States, it’s entirely up to the home secretary to make a decision at his discretion.”

Aljazeera