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  • When explosions crippled two oil tankers

  • in the Gulf of Oman on June 13,

  • the incident immediately

  • heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran

  • and raised alarms about the security

  • of a vital passageway for a third

  • of the world's petroleum.

  • The U.S. blamed Iran for unprovoked attacks

  • on the ship.

  • “— present a clear threat.”

  • Iran said American officials werewarmongering.”

  • The main evidence the U.S. has presented to the public

  • to support its claim are these photos

  • and this surveillance footage taken several hours

  • after the attack on one of the tankers.

  • The footage has significant gaps,

  • cuts out at key moments and zooms in and out.

  • It does not depict a single sequence

  • of events or an explosive being planted.

  • Days later, the U.S. released new images

  • to back up its claim.

  • They don't show definitively who is

  • responsible for the attacks.

  • But here's what the images do show us.

  • First, the tanker:

  • We can confirm that this tanker,

  • the Kokuka Courageous,

  • is the same ship that was approached

  • by the Iranian vessel.

  • These distinctive features match.

  • And shipping data confirms

  • it was 20 miles off the coast of Iran

  • when it was attacked.

  • Next, the patrol boat, which does appear

  • to be Iranian.

  • It matches the model and dimensions

  • of patrol boats used by the

  • Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy.

  • The chevron pattern on the bow of the boat matches,

  • and so does the center console.

  • And they both have antiaircraft guns.

  • An Iranian source familiar with the country's

  • military operations told us that this clearer picture

  • of the same patrol boat does show an I.R.G.C. vessel.

  • And the incident occurred in Iran's area of responsibility.

  • Last, the alleged mine:

  • A U.S. Navy ship took this photograph

  • before the Iranian patrol appeared.

  • It shows damage to the ship and what

  • appears to be an object protruding from the hull.

  • The new images released by the U.S. Defense Department

  • appear to show the outline of a limpet mine

  • similar to this mine design on the right.

  • The dimensions of the mine match.

  • These markings match clasps used

  • to attach the mine to the tanker and this remnant

  • matches the size and design of those clasps.

  • Weapons experts say this could resemble limpet mines that

  • are available to Iran, but there's

  • still no conclusive proof that they are Iranian.

  • So it appears that an Iranian boat

  • did remove a limpet mine from the ship's hull.

  • But importantly, the pictures released by the U.S.

  • lack the crucial piece of evidence:

  • The moment the mine was placed.

  • Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

  • has said that President Trump wants to avoid war.

  • President Trump does not want war.

  • We will continue to communicate that message

  • while doing the things that are

  • necessary to protect American interests in the region.”

  • Even still, the Defense Department

  • decided to send 1,000 additional troops

  • to the region in response.

  • But as U.S.-Iran relations continue

  • to crumble, this slim waterway

  • will remain a hotbed of tension.

When explosions crippled two oil tankers

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