Islam Times - US tanker story evades rational reasoning

Islam Times - The United States’ assertion that Iran was behind blasts on board two tankers in the Sea of Oman evades rational reasoning, says an American political analyst.

Keith Preston said, “The story that the United States is spinning about the attack doesn’t make any sense.”

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has released a video after the Thursday blasts purportedly showing "Iranian sailors" removing a mine from one vessel’s hull earlier that day.

Refuting the alleged evidence, Preston said, “The tankers that were attacked were owned by parties that are friendly to Iran: Japan and also a Norwegian shipping company that has been doing business with Iran for years.”

“So, it makes no sense that Iran would have carried out attacks of this kind. It certainly wouldn’t have been in Iran’s interest,” added the commentator and author. However, “it appears that the Americans are rushing to blame Iran for the attacks irrespective of what is the actual evidence of that,” he added.

Upon being notified of the incident, Iranian authorities dispatched rescue missions to the area to try and douse the fire. Iranian vessels also took in the tankers’ crewmembers, transferring them to the southern Iranian Jask Port.

Pompeo words, actions don’t go together
Separately, Preston addressed recent remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which he distanced himself from his usual adversarial rhetoric concerning Iran, alleging that the US does not seek war with the Islamic Republic. “President [Donald] Trump has done everything he can to avoid war. We don’t want war,” Pompeo said on Sunday in an interview with Fox News.

Preston described the US top diplomat’s remarks as “a bit odd” at a time when “the level of bellicosity that’s coming from officials in the Trump administration has certainly escalated.”

“The actions of the members of the Trump administration are not consistent with what they’re actually saying,” Preston added.

He was apparently referring to numerous instances when Pompeo has been trying to forge international consensus against Iran during his overseas’ visits and highlight Washington’s animosity towards Tehran.