Saudi Arabia denounces a terrorist attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia indicated that the recent explosion of a Singaporean-flagged tanker while unloading in a Jeddah port on the Red Sea is a "terrorist act", which did not cause any casualties or material damage. The ship was attacked by "a ship bomb in the early minutes of Monday morning, which caused a small fire without anyone being injured," said an official source from the Saudi Ministry of Energy, as published by the official Saudi news agency SPA. 

The source, who was not identified, condemned this "terrorist attack" and stressed that it comes "shortly after a series of attacks against another ship in Al-Shuqaiq, located in the southeast of the Kingdom, the oil products distribution station in the north of Jeddah and the floating unloading platform in the province of Jazan, bordering Yemen". "These destructive terrorist acts, targeting vital facilities, go beyond attacking the Kingdom and its vital installations, and aim at the security and stability of the world's energy supply," he said. 

He also pointed out that they succeeded in extinguishing the fire "without any damage to the fuel unloading facilities or any impact on their supplies". He concluded that this action seriously affects "maritime traffic, the security of oil exports and the freedom of world trade, as well as threatening coastal and regional waters that are exposed to major environmental disasters due to oil leaks".

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for this alleged attack. The explosion, which occurred at 00.40 local time (21.40 GMT on Sunday) on the ship BW Rhine, caused a fire on board that was extinguished by the sailors and firemen in the port of Yeda, confirmed the shipping company, Hafnia, which reports that no one was injured among the 22 crew members.

The shipping company, based in the city-state of Singapore, says in a statement that the ship suffers damage to its hull and that it is "possible" that some of the oil it is carrying has escaped, while they are carrying out a series of tests and measurements on its cargo. Last month, another oil tanker suffered a mine attack off the Saudi coast, which the authorities attributed to Houthi rebels in Yemen, who did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Therefore, a new episode of violence and insecurity in the Gulf that could be attributed in principle to the Houthi rebels, a Shia group that is related to the Islamic Republic of Iran and seeks to undermine the internationally recognised government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi, which is supported by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and includes countries such as the United Arab Emirates, in the framework of the armed conflict that is ravaging the Yemeni country.

The offensives against oil tankers in Gulf waters and against Saudi interests multiplied following the conflict stemming from the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran on account of its failure to comply with the nuclear pact sealed in 2015 together with other powers such as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and China, which limited Iran's atomic programme, particularly in relation to weapons. 

Donald Trump's government departed from the agreement in 2018 to impose these sanctions on the ayatollahs' regime, the most notable being those linked to trade in crude oil, the main source of Persian funding. 

In this scenario, Hassan Rohani, Iran's president, threatened to continue trading in his oil, to blockade the Straits of Ormuz (the main transit area for world oil trade) and to breach important terms of the nuclear pact relating to uranium enrichment and the treatment of heavy water. 

In this connection, there were attacks on ships in Gulf waters and on Saudi Arabia's oil and airport infrastructures, for which Iran and pro-Iranian agents, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen, were blamed. All this is part of the now traditional confrontation between Saudi Arabia, the main representative of the Sunni branch of Islam, and Iran, the standard bearer of the opposite Shia branch, which are fighting for regional hegemony in the Middle East.