SABOTAGE!

Satellite photos show hulk of what was biggest Iran warship

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Oil-slicked waters spread out from the partially sunk Iranian navy vessel Kharg in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Jask, Iran, in this Thursday, June 3, 2021, satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. Satellite photographs taken Thursday show the burned hulk that remains of Iran's biggest warship after it caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Satellite photographs taken Thursday show the burned hulk that remains of Iran’s biggest warship after it caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman.

The photos from Planet Labs Inc., analyzed by The Associated Press, show the 207-meter (679-foot) Kharg just off the coast of the Iranian port city of Jask, surrounded by a sea of oil-slicked waters. Iranian officials have not acknowledged the pollution left behind by the ship’s sinking on Wednesday.

The photos show the ship partially submerged, with debris floating in the water around it.

Iranian state media reported that 400 sailors and trainee cadets on board fled the vessel, while 33 suffered injuries in the incident. Iranian officials have offered no cause for the fire.

The fire Wednesday aboard the Kharg warship follows a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019, targeting commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, timed explosives typically attached by divers to a vessel’s hull.

Iran denied that, though U.S. Navy footage showed Revolutionary Guard members removing one unexploded limpet mine from a ship. The attacks came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations on saving the accord continue in Vienna.

In April, an Iranian ship called the MV Saviz believed to be a Guard base and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen was targeted in an attack suspected to have been carried out by Israel. It escalated a yearslong shadow war in the Mideast between the two countries, ranging from strikes in Syria, assaults on ships and attacks on Iran’s nuclear program

Iran's largest warship sinks after catching fire



Oriana Gonzalez
Wed, June 2, 2021, 

Iran's largest navy ship, known as the Kharg, caught on fire on Wednesday and sunk in the Gulf of Oman, according to state media.

Details: The fire broke out at around 2:25 a.m. while the ship was near Iran's Port of Jask, a major shipping lane. No casualties were reported and the entire crew was able to escape the wreck and was taken to safety on the coast, per NPR.

Officials tried for 20 hours to put out the fire, but were unable to as the flames spread to different parts of the ship.

The Kharg was being deployed for training operations when the blaze erupted.

The big picture: While Iranian officials have not offered any cause that might have started the fire, this was the latest in a series of mysterious explosions that has been targeting ships in the Gulf of Oman since 2019, AP reports.

The U.S. accused Iran of being responsible for a series of attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz in 2019, saying the regime was engaged in "an unacceptable campaign of escalating tensions."

Iran has denied targeting ships in the area, but U.S. Navy footage caught members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps removed an unexploded limpet mine from a vessel in 2019.

 REMOVED FROM A JAPANESE TANKER FILLING UP IN IRAN, ISRAEL IS SUSPECTED OF SABOTAGE

Yes, but: Iran's ships have experienced incidents in the past that were unrelated to conflicts with foreign nations. In 2020, a training vessel was mistakenly hit by a missile near the Port of Jask, ending in 19 casualties, per AP.