미-이란 전쟁 촉발되나?...CNN "이란, 유조선 피격 전 美무인정찰기에 미사일 공격" VIDEO: Iranians fired missile at US drone prior to tanker attack, US official says
Iranians fired missile at US drone prior to tanker attack, US official says
By Barbara Starr and Zachary Cohen, CNN
Washington (CNN)In the hours before the attack on the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.
The Front Altair oil tanker on fire in the Gulf of Oman on June 13, 2019. AP Photo/ISNA)/businessinsider.com
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CNN "이란, 유조선 피격 전 美무인정찰기에 미사일 공격" 13일 호르무즈 해협 인근 오만해에서 유조선 2척이 피격되기 전 이란이 미국 무인정찰기에 미사일을 발사했다고 CNN이 14일(현지 시각) 보도했다. CNN은 미국 정부 관리를 인용, 이란이 유조선 피격 사건이 발생하기 몇 시간 전 현장에서 정찰 중이던 미국 무인정찰기 MQ-9 리퍼에 지대공 미사일을 발사했다고 전했다. 발사된 미사일은 MQ-9 리퍼를 명중하지 못하고 바다 속으로 추락했다. 2019년 6월 13일 호르무즈 해협 인근 오만해에서 유조선 2척이 피격돼 불타고 있다. /연합뉴스 미 정부 관리에 따르면, 이란이 미사일을 발사할 당시 MQ-9 리퍼는 이란 선박이 유조선 2척에 접근하는 모습을 포착했다. 그는 이란 선박이 실제로 공격을 수행하는 것을 무인정찰기가 목격했는지는 언급하지 않았다. 미 관리의 이런 주장은 ‘이란 정부가 유조선 피격의 배후’라고 주장하는 미국 정부의 입장에 힘을 실어주는 증거가 될 것이라는 관측이 나온다. 전날 마이크 폼페이오 미 국무장관이 이번 피격 사건의 배후로 이란을 지목한 이후 이를 뒷받침하는 증거 자료가 보도됐다. 전날 CNN은 미국이 이란 해군 함정이 피격 유조선 중 1척인 일본 해운회사의 고쿠카 코레이저스 호의 저장 탱크에 부착된 불발 폭탄을 제거하는 모습이 담긴 영상과 사진을 확보했다고 전했다. CNN은 이번 사건을 계기로 중동 해역에 전개된 미군과 이란이 군사적으로 충돌할 가능성이 높아졌다고 분석했다. 이번 사건이 발생하기 수일 전에도 홍해 상공에서 이란의 지원을 받은 예멘 후티 반군이 MQ-9 리퍼를 미사일로 격추했다. 이경민 기자 조선일보 출처 : http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/06/15/2019061500509.html |
맨 하단 사진설명:
미 중부군사령부가 제공한 이 유인물 사진은 2019년 6월 13일 오만 만에서 민선 M/V 고쿠카 용기함 선체에 유도탄 구축함 베인브리지함(DDG 96)이 파손된 선박에 접근함에 따라 폭발물(L)과 리무진 기뢰가 보일 가능성이 있는 것으로 보인다.
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Prior to taking fire, the American MQ-9 Reaper drone observed Iranian vessels closing in on the tankers, the official added, though the source did not say whether the unmanned aircraft saw the boats conducting an actual attack.
Still, it is the first claim that the US has information of Iranian movements prior to the attack.
CNN has not seen any imagery from the US drones.
Iran has strenuously denied any involvement in the attack.
The same official also said in the days prior to the attack, a US Reaper drone was shot down in the Red Sea by what is believed to be an Iranian missile fired by Houthi rebels.
The Pentagon had tough words for Iran on Friday as the US continues to assert its claim that Tehran was responsible for the attack on the two oil tankers in international waters after releasing video footage its says shows an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels' hulls.
"We're making sure that General McKenzie and the central command has the resources and the support that they need to conduct their missions," acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said, adding that the US continues to work on building an international consensus that Iran was behind the attack.
Trump says Iran 'did do it'
The United Kingdom released a statement Friday saying it is "almost certain" that a branch of the Iranian military -- the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) -- attacked two tankers.
The IRGC is an elite wing of the Iranian military that was established in the aftermath of the country's revolution in 1979. In April 2019, the US officially designated it as a foreign terrorist organization, a move which was rejected by authorities in Tehran.
No other state or non-state actor "could plausibly have been responsible," the statement added.
But Iran does not appear to be backing off and continues to engage in provocative behavior, according to a US official who told CNN on Friday that Iranian small boats are preventing tug boats from towing away one of the damaged tankers.
President Donald Trump seems convinced that Tehran was responsible.
"Iran did do it and you know they did it because you saw the boat," he said, appearing to refer to the images and video released by the Pentagon late Thursday.
In the video, a smaller boat is shown coming up to the side of the Japanese-owned tanker. An individual stands up on the bow of the boat and can be seen removing an object from the tanker's hull. The US says that object is likely an unexploded mine.
A senior diplomatic source of a US ally told CNN Friday, "It is a virtual certainty Iran was behind this latest attack. The video now nails it."
The source added that the goal of the response from the US government thus far is all about publicly exposing Iranian actions and intensifying maximum pressure.
After the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, it adopted a policy of maximum economic pressure and sent a carrier group to the region, the source said this "Iranian retaliation is designed to show they can disrupt, and push oil prices up."
The Trump administration predicted that the pressure from the United States would bring Iran to the negotiating table, but European leaders disagreed, believing it would empower the hardliners, the source continued.
Iran denies involvement
Iran has denied any involvement in the incident, with its foreign minister suggesting that the US was quick to make allegations "without a shred of evidence."
The attack could provide more fodder for Iran hawks within the US administration, whose recent Iran saber-rattling has frustrated Trump. One of them, national security adviser John Bolton, announced last month that the Pentagon was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to a "number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran.
The two tankers -- one carrying oil and the other transporting chemicals -- were attacked near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been the focal point of regional tensions for decades. Roughly 30% of the world's sea-borne crude oil passes through the strategic choke point, making it a flashpoint for political and economic friction.
Jonathan Cohen, acting US ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday that he echoed Pompeo's comments in a private meeting of the UN Security Council, describing the attack as "another example of Iran's destabilizing activities in the region."
This handout picture provided by US Central Command shows an explosion (L) and a likely limpet mine can be seen on the hull of the civilian vessel M/V Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman, June 13, 2019, as the guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96)(not pictured) approaches the damaged ship.
Image Credit: AFP
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The Iranian mission to the UN rejected the US' claim.
Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for the Iranian mission, tweeted a statement saying Iran "categorically rejects the US unfounded claim" that Iran is behind the attacks and "condemns it in the strongest possible terms."
He added that Iran "expresses concern" over the "suspicious incidents." And he called it "ironic" that the US, which withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is now calling Iran to come back for negotiations and diplomacy.
This story and headline have been updated.
CNN's Michelle Kosinski contributed reporting
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/14/politics/us-drone-tracked-iranian-boats/index.html
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