New reports on Saudi tanker sabotage implicate predictable culprit

With the middle east devolving into chaos before our very eyes, (once again), new reports regarding the sabotage of several Saudi oil tankers claim to have concluded as to who the culprits were.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most prolific exporters of oil.  Combined with the geographical realities of the Persian Gulf and its copious natural bottlenecks, and it becomes all too simple for bad actors on the international stage to disrupt the entire globe.

This is not a new problem, not in the least, but the tenuous conditions of middle eastern politics leave little room for error.  Even the slightest aggression can send the region into a fury not unlike that of a well-kicked hornets’ nest.

So when several Saudi oil tankers were attacked, it became imperative that the world quickly and correctly identify those responsible.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are “highly likely” to have facilitated attacks last Sunday on four tankers including two Saudi ships off Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, according to a Norwegian insurers’ report seen by Reuters.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway are investigating the attacks, which also hit a UAE- and a Norwegian-flagged vessel.

A confidential assessment issued this week by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual War Risks Insurance Association (DNK) concluded that the attack was likely to have been carried out by a surface vessel operating close by that despatched underwater drones carrying 30-50 kg (65-110 lb) of high-grade explosives to detonate on impact.

This sort of sophistication was never likely to be executed by rogue terrorists or the all-too-rambunctious pirates of the region.

An attack just days later on a Saudi oil pipeline was almost immediately declared to be of Iranian origin, despite the frantic proclamations of leaders in Tehran who blamed a US-led “false flag” attack for the mayhem.