UK’s Corbyn: No 'Credible Evidence' of Iran Role in Tanker Attacks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the UK government to abstain from escalating tensions with Iran without “credible evidence” that Tehran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers.
According to the Guardian, Corbyn said Britain risked increasing the threat of war after the Foreign Office (FCO) said it was “almost certain” in its assessment that “a branch of the Iranian military … attacked the two tankers on 13 June”.
“Britain should act to ease tensions in the (Persian) Gulf, not fuel a military escalation that began with US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement. Without credible evidence about the tanker attacks, the government’s rhetoric will only increase the threat of war,” he also said in a tweet.
The FCO had said, “No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible,” and pointed to an alleged “recent precedent for attacks by Iran against oil tankers”.
The United States has blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman on Thursday and Britain followed suit with Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, accusing Tehran of “destabilizing” the region.
“These latest attacks build on a pattern of destabilizing Iranian behavior and pose a serious danger to the region,” Hunt said in a statement.
Iran has denied any role in the event, and some observers have raised questions about whether the intelligence was being used as a pretext for the US to escalate conflict with the country and bring back Tehran to the negotiating table.
