Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Blames Iran For Attacks On Two Japanese Oil Tankers

Editor’s Note: This is a work in progress.

While I very much appreciate P.M. Abe going to Iran to meet with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, I personally feel that it is too soon to even think about making a deal. They are not ready, and neither are we!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2019

“It is the assessment of the U.S. government that Iran is responsible for today’s attacks in the Gulf of Oman….”@StateDept @SecPompeo pic.twitter.com/sTIB0p1kCE

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2019

I’m assuming these two things are related.

YESTERDAY

New York Times:

“TOKYO — Shinzo Abe’s visit to Iran this week, the first to that country by a Japanese prime minister in more than 40 years, is the latest in a series of high-minded but long-shot efforts to lift Japan’s influence on the global stage.

Mr. Abe, who flew to Tehran on Wednesday, is putting himself in the middle of a confrontation between the United States and Iran that has raised fears of war.

The tensions, which began with President Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear accord and impose crippling sanctions, escalated recently as the Trump administration moved additional troops into the Persian Gulf after having accused Iran of plotting to attack American targets. …”

TODAY

New York Times:

“LONDON — Explosions crippled two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday in what the United States called attacks by Iran, raising alarms about immediate security and potential military conflict in a vital passageway for a third of the world’s petroleum.

The explosions forced the crews of both vessels to evacuate and left at least one ablaze, and hours later the causes were still under investigation. Yet the backdrop of steeply rising threats between President Trump and Iranian leaders gave the stricken ships a grave significance even before the facts became clear.

By afternoon, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that American intelligence agencies had concluded Tehran was behind the disabling of both ships. Without providing specific evidence, he pointed to the weapons used, the expertise and resources required and the similarity to other recent attacks attributed to Iran.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security,” he told a news conference in Washington.

Senior American officials have already blamed Iran for similar attacks last month against four tankers on the same waterway. Iranian officials, who denied any involvement in those attacks, also rejected assertions they were behind the events on Thursday and implied Iran had been framed. …”

This is just breathtaking.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is currently on a diplomatic mission in Iran to avert a destructive war between the United States and Iran. Japan and Iran have had cordial relations for decades. It just so happens that while Abe is visiting Iran that two Japanese oil tankers are attacked. Mike Pompeo announces at a press conference that American intelligence has concluded that Iran is behind “these unprovoked attacks.”

I mean … is anyone in the world except American “journalists” dumb enough to believe this war propaganda?

REACTION:

.@SecPompeo‘s little performance aimed at accusing Iran for this morning’s tanker attacks was stunning in one sense: how many inaccuracies can one jampack into a 4 min speech? Here is a short list:https://t.co/HPp0AbX671

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

1.1. Maybe. But he presents no evidence whatsoever! It’d have been much more responsible for @SecPompeo to call for an impartial UN investigation. Also, if you believe nonstate actors/spoilers can’t manage to conduct sophisticated operations, you didn’t deserve to head the CIA…

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

2.1. Should we believe that the US has done nothing to provoke Iran in the past 40 years and that the entire the blame lies with Iran? Also, which freedom loving countries are you referring to? Iraq under Saddam or KSA or UAE?

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

3.1 What @SecPompeo fails to say is that Iran promised that if it can’t export its own oil due to unjustified unilateral US sanctions, no one else will. Are there any fact checkers left at @StateDept? https://t.co/07ttxmDV8w

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

3.2 What brought Iran’s strategic patience policy into question was your push to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero. Not the “malign” “nefarious” “destabilizing” impulses of Tehran, which sat on its hands, receiving more then 200 Israeli strikes on its assets in Syria…

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

4.1 Maybe they did, but the countries who have investigated it haven’t explicitly blamed Iran. If you have clear evidence, you should present it to the world in ways that are more convincing that Colin Powell’s UNSC presentation. https://t.co/b3IJLDJR2g

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

5.1 FYI, there is a full fledged war happening between KSA and the Houthis in Yemen. Not every thing the Houthis do is on behalf of Iran. And no one knows who fired the rocket in Baghdad. But again, if you have the evidence, pls present it to the world.

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

6.1 Wow! this is new. So you’re now contending that the Taliban, who claimed responsibility for that attack, is an Iranian surrogate too? https://t.co/1Qr5pOYmpc

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

7.1 That exact reason & your haste in blaming Iran makes one skeptical of your intel & intent. The parties who seem to benefit the most from getting Iran/the US back on the collision course & neutralize Abe’s efforts seem to be your regional allies and colleague @AmbJohnBolton.

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

8.1 Which success are you referring to? OK you’ve hurt the Iranian economy, but you’ve rendered Iran more, not less, aggressive. You have failed to entice them to negotiate with you, and you have failed to stir an internal uprising. Am I missing something?

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

9.1 You should follow your own advice, Mr. Secretary. The reality is that you left the diplomatic process, adopted a purely coercive policy, moved the goalposts and now trying to extort more concessions or force an Iranian capitulation.

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

10/10 This rhetoric is almost a mirror image of the Iranian ideologues’ discourse. Who writes such nonsense for Pompeo? If you have clear proof, let that evidence speak for itself. Why the exaggeration and the hype, unless you are fulfilling an agenda you’ve been itching for… pic.twitter.com/NHPkelnScU

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) June 13, 2019

pic.twitter.com/2FV0SVpgFs

— Delicious Tacos (@Delicious_Tacos) June 13, 2019

I agree. Look at Venezuela to see how horrible their propaganda was/is. The coup was like something out of a parody – total Baghdad Bob type of stuff. At least in 2002 they knew they had to show proof – that they had to justify their lies with some kind of evidence. https://t.co/GhUeMmp6FN

— Ulfric (@Ulfric74) June 13, 2019

“Mr. Pompeo did not present any evidence of Iran’s involvement when announcing the findings at a news conference in Washington. ” https://t.co/HYBY0g4Gwx

— Eli Clifton (@EliClifton) June 13, 2019

According to lawmakers, the Trump administration has provided a ‘full formal presentation’ on how they already have the legal authority to go to war with Iran https://t.co/RzgMe7BL49

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) June 13, 2019

pic.twitter.com/zdLBk9vaMq

— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) June 13, 2019

The ongoing propaganda offensive against Iran isn’t even well-executed. It’s not 2002 where everyone automatically buys into the latest alarmist, evidence-free, war-lusting BS. Yet the think tank / neocon nincompoops maintain proximity to power, so might get what they want anyway

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 13, 2019

Considering the US government lied about:

– The Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam

– Incubator babies and WMDs in #Iraq

– Massacres in #Libya

– Chemical weapons attacks in #Syria

– Russiagate

It is our assessment that you’re lying about this too to start a war with #Iran. https://t.co/UhTsGuntke

— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) June 13, 2019

Iran attacking a Japanese tanker while the Japanese premier is in #Iran to discuss peace, makes about as much sense as #Syria’s Assad gassing his own people with chemical weapons he doesn’t have right as he’s defeating terrorism.

This is a false flag to trigger war. Full stop.

— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) June 13, 2019

Sure, Michael Weiss, sure https://t.co/ZCkdimT7mZ

— EMPEROR ‘KINGFISH’ WHITEPILL (@CptBlackPill) June 13, 2019

So literally while Japan’s Abe is meeting with Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei, a Japanese oil tanker is attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

Sounds like some are afraid Japan may succeed in starting diplomacy.

The message appears to be: Don’t you dare stand in the way of my war plans…

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 13, 2019

So a Japanese oil tanker is attacked right before Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei is set to meet with Japan. Hey @IDF, where were your special forces last night? pic.twitter.com/0nLw3Z5vZw

— Jason Unruhe? (@MaoistRebelNews) June 13, 2019

Humpty Dumpty’s press conference was short. Called Iran “Iraq.” Literally read some tweets by Iran’s foreign minister and called Saudi Arabia a “peace loving country.”

— Perseus (@IranianSun) June 13, 2019

Perhaps because he doesn’t have any https://t.co/8G8j05n3wO

— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) June 13, 2019

Pompeo’s statement just now was such a load of garbage. “Iran should answer diplomacy with diplomacy.” As if there has been any genuine diplomacy on offer!

— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) June 13, 2019