Rouhani: Too early to determine who launched missiles at Iranian tanker
By TZVI JOFFREIran's President Hassan Rouhani listens during a news conference on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 26, 2018(photo credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that it's still too early to say who struck an Iranian oil tanker in the Red Sea with missiles on Friday, but did say that one country had conducted the attack with the help of other nations.The statements were made during a press conference on Monday."For sure, a regime assisted by certain states has carried out this [attack], and we are studying the incident to see what has happened," said Rouhani, according to the Iranian Fars news.Rouhani said that Iran had a video showing "a number of missiles" fired at the tanker, with two hitting the tanker itself, according to the Iranian IRNA news agency. The video, taken from a camera on the tanker itself, show where the rockets were fired from and from what angle."We have no problem resolving regional issues, including with Saudi Arabia, but the targeting of our ship in the Red Sea has created some problems for now," said Rouhani, adding that "we hope our investigations would yield results soon."The Supreme National Security Council stated that the attack was not carried out by one person or one group, but rather a government, adding that any country that carried out the attack should expect consequences.The tanker Sabiti was hit in Red Sea waters off Saudi Arabia on Friday, Iranian media have reported, an incident that could stoke friction in a region rattled by attacks on tankers and oil installations since May.Reuters contributed to this report.
