Tanker hit in Gulf attacks heads to port

A Japanese tanker, one of two vessels attacked in sensitive Gulf waters this week, was heading to port on Saturday, its owners said.

The Kokuka Courageous was rocked by explosions as it passed through the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, threatening its highly flammable cargo of methanol.

The resulting blaze was quickly extinguished, although one crew member suffered minor injuries.

US President Donald Trump said the twin attack, which also targeted a tanker owned by Oslo-listed company Frontline, had Iran "written all over it".

The Japanese tanker's Tokyo-based operator Kokuka confirmed the vessel was heading to port in the United Arab Emirates.

"We still don't know if the tanker goes to Khor Fakkan or Fujairah as they are very close," said a spokesman, referring to two Emirati ports on the Gulf of Oman.

As US-Iranian tensions soared, Trump dismissed Tehran's repeated threats that in case of conflict it could block the Hormuz Strait -- a narrow seaway vital to the world's oil supplies.

Speaking hours after the US military released grainy footage it said showed an Iranian patrol boat removing an "unexploded limpet mine" from one of the tankers, Trump was emphatic.

"Iran did do it," Trump told Fox News.

"You know they did it because you saw the boat. I guess one of the mines didn't explode and it's probably got essentially Iran written all over it."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the US had "immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran without a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence."
"Obviously that can only be done if there is an independent entity that verifies those facts."