The Uzbekistan Foreign Ministry condemned the provocation attack on May 12 which damaged 4 commercial and civilian ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf, the ministry said in a statement.
Such incidents pose a serious threat to the people’s lives aboard ships. The ministry has called on the international community to take responsibility for preventing such actions that undermine maritime security and stability, the statement added.
The Foreign Ministry expressed solidarity with the United Arab Emirates in ensuring security and protecting their national interests.
As many as four oil tankers anchored in the Mideast were damaged in what Gulf officials described Monday as a “sabotage” attack off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
While details of the incident remained unclear, it raised risks for shippers in a region vital to global energy supplies at a time of increasing tensions between the U.S. and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
The U.S. issued a new warning to sailors as the UAE’s regional allies condemned Sunday’s alleged attack, which the UAE said targeted vessels off the coast of its port city of Fujairah.
The U.S. already had warned ships that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the region. America is deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged, still-unspecified threats from Tehran.
Citing heightened tensions in the region, the United Nations called on “all concerned parties to exercise restraint for the sake of regional peace, including by ensuring maritime security” and freedom of navigation, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
