DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday that drove up oil prices and raised concerns about a new U.S.-Iranian confrontation.
미국은 목요일 오만 만에서 두 개의 유조선 공격에 대해 이란을 비난했다, 새로운 미국과 이란 대립에 관한 우려를 증식시키고 유가가 상승했다.
Iran “categorically rejects the U.S. unfounded claim(근거없는 주장) with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms,” the Iranian mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Thursday evening.
이란은 단정적으로 6월 13일 유조선 사건에 대해 미국의 근거없는 주장을 부정하고 가능한 가장 센 용어로 그 주장을 비난한다. UN에 있는 이란 파견인이 목요일 저녁 성명 발표하면서 말했다.
It was not immediately clear what befell the Norwegian-owned Front Altair or the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, which both experienced explosions, forcing crews to abandon ship and leave the vessels adrift in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran.
노르웨이 소유의 Front Altair 또는 일본 소유의 Kokuka Courageous에게 어떤 안 좋은 일이 닥쳤는 지는 바로 알려지지는 않았다, 두 유조선 모두 폭발을 겪었고 선원들에게 배를 버리고 아랍주 만과 이란 사이에 선박을 바다에 표류시키게 나두었다.
One source said the blast on the Front Altair, which caught fire and sent a huge plume of smoke into the air, may have been caused by a magnetic mine.
어떤 정보원에 따르면 Front Altair의 폭발은, 불이 붙고 상공에 거대한 연기 기둥이 올라왔던 폭발인데, 자기(자석) 기뢰에 의해 촉발되었을 것이라 했다.
The firm that chartered the Kokuka Courageous tanker said it was hit by a suspected torpedo, but a person with knowledge of the matter said torpedoes were not used.
Kokuka Courageous 유조선을 소유한 회사는 수상한 어뢰에 피격되었다고 말했지만, 한 전문가는 어뢰가 사용되지 않았다고 했다.
An unexploded device, believed to be a limpet mine, was spotted on the side of the Japanese tanker, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. If confirmed, the next steps might be to deactivate or detonate the device.
선체 부착 지뢰라 의심되는 폭파되지 않은 장치가 일본 유조선의 측면에서 관측되었다고 미국 당국이 로이터 통신에게 말했다, 익명성을 조건으로. 이것이 확인된다면, 다음 단계는 장치를 비활성화 시키거나 폭파시킬 것이다.
Crude oil prices spiked more than 4% after the attacks near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping artery for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf energy producers. Prices later settled about 2% higher.
사우디 아라비아와 다른 걸프 에너지 생산자들에게 중요한 해상 수송 동맥인 호르무즈 해협 출입구 근처에서 공격이 벌어진 후에 크루드 오일 가격은 4% 이상 급등했다, 유가는 나중에 플러스 2%로 유지되었다.
The United States, which has accused Iran or its proxies of carrying out a May 12 attack on four tankers off the United Arab Emirates’ coast as well as May 14 drone strikes on two Saudi oil-pumping stations, squarely(정면으로) blamed Iran for Thursday’s attacks.
5월 12일 UAE 해안에 4개의 유조선 공격을 감행하고 5월 14일 2개의 사우디 오일 펌핑 공장에 드론이 공격한 대리인으로서 이란에게 혐의를 제기한 미국은 목요일 공격이 이란 탓이라고 정면으로 비난했다.
“It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman today,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters.
"오늘 오만 만에서 일어난 공격에 대한 책임은 이란 이슬람 연합국에 있다는 것이 미국 정부의 평가입니다."
미국 마이크 폼페이오 국무 장관이 리포터들에게 말했다.
Pompeo did not provide explicit evidence to back up the U.S. assertion.
폼페이오 장관은 미국의 주장을 증명할 명확한 근거는 제공하지 않았다.
“This assessment is based on intelligence, the weapons used, the level of expertise needed to execute the operation, recent similar Iranian attacks on shipping, and the fact that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication,” Pompeo said.
"이 평가는 정보에 근거합니다, 무기가 사용되었고, 작전을 수행하는데 필요한 전문 지식 수준, 선박에 대한 이란인들의 최근 유사한 공격들, 그리고 이 영역에 활동하는 대리인 그룹(proxy group)이 고도의 정밀함을 가지고 수행할 자원과 숙련도가 없다는 정보입니다." 폼페이오가 말했다.
U.S. and European security officials as well as regional analysts cautioned, however, against jumping to conclusions, leaving open the possibility that Iranian proxies, or someone else entirely, might have been responsible.
하지만 미국과 유럽 안보 관리들과 지역 분석가들은 성급히 결론에 다다르는 것에 경고했다, 이란 대리인 혹은 완전히 다른 누군가가 책임이 있을 가능성을 염두해야 한다고 했다.
“There are lots of moving parts and ‘facts’ at the moment, so my only advice would be treat things with extra caution,” said one security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
현 시점에서 유동적인 부분과 '사실'이 많이 존재한다, 그래서 내 사견으로는 극도로 조심히 사안을 다뤄야 한다고 생각한다, 익명의 안보 관리가 말했다.
‘SUSPICIOUS’ '의심스러운'
Tensions between Iran and the United States, along with its allies including Saudi Arabia, have risen since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of(철수하다) a deal last year between Iran and global powers that aimed to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief.
이란과 미국 사이의 긴장감, 사우디 아라비아를 포함한 동맹국도 마찬가지로, 긴장감은 증대되어왔다, 미국 트럼프 대통령이 작년에 이란과 제제 완화를 대가로 테헤란의 핵 욕망을 꺾으려는 의도를 가진 국제 권력 사이의 협상에서 철수했을 때부터.
Iran has repeatedly warned it would block the Strait of Hormuz if it cannot sell its oil because of U.S. sanctions.
이란은 반복적으로 호르무즈 해협을 봉쇄하겠다고 경고했다, 미국의 제제로 인해 이란의 기름을 팔지 못하게 된다면.
Tensions have increased further since Trump acted at the beginning of May to force Iran’s oil customers to slash their imports to zero or face draconian(드라코니언, 엄격한) U.S. financial sanctions.
긴장감은 더욱 올랐다, 트럼프가 5월초 이란 석유 고객들에게 수입을 중단하지 않으면 엄격한 미국의 금융제재에 직면하게 될 것이라 압박을 한 후부터.
Iran’s oil exports have dropped to around 400,000 barrels per day in May from 2.5 million bpd in April last year.
이란의 석유 수출량은 작년 4월 일당 250만 배럴에서 올해 5월 40만 배럴로 감소해왔다.
In May, the Trump administration also said it would send more troops to the Middle East, citing what it saw as a threat of potential attack by Iran.
또한 5월에 트럼프 행정부는 중동에 더 많은 군대를 파견할 것이라 말했다, 이란에 의한 잠재적 공격에 대한 위협을 언급하면서.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the tanker explosions as “suspicious” on Twitter and called for regional dialogue. Tehran has denied responsibility for the May 12 attacks.
The crews of both ships struck on Thursday were picked up safely. The Bahrain-based U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet said it had assisted the two tankers after receiving distress calls.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a meeting of the Security Council on cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States that the world could not afford “a major confrontation in the Gulf region”.
The Security Council discussed the attacks behind closed doors on Thursday at the request of the United States.
Kuwait’s U.N. ambassador, Mansour Al-Otaibi, president of the council for June, said after the meeting that all 15 council members had condemned the attacks.
When asked if the United States had shown any evidence to support its accusation that Iran was responsible, Al-Otaibi told reporters: “We didn’t discuss any evidence.”
IRAN, U.S. SAY WAR SHOULD BE AVOIDED
Both Iran and the United States have said they want to avoid war.
“Iran will never initiate a war but will give a crushing response to any aggression,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Thursday evening that “we have no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. We will defend our interests, but a war with Iran is not in our strategic interest, nor in the best interest of the international community.”
Pompeo said U.S. policy remained making economic and diplomatic efforts to bring Iran back to negotiations on a broader deal.
The Iranian U.N. mission’s statement said: “It is ironic that the U.S. who unlawfully withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action now calls Iran to come back to negotiations and diplomacy,” using the formal name of the 2015 nuclear accord.
In abandoning the deal, Trump made clear he wanted Iran to curb not merely its nuclear work but its development of missiles and support for proxy forces in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
Some regional analysts said they thought the attacks were likely to have been carried out by Iran and described them as a way for Tehran to try to acquire negotiating leverage and perhaps increase global pressure for U.S.-Iran talks.
“There is always the possibility that somebody is trying to blame the Iranians,” said Jon Alterman of Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to a so-called false flag operation to implicate another nation.
“But there is the greater likelihood that this represents an effort to bolster Iranian diplomacy by creating a perceived international urgency to have the United States and Iran talk,” Alterman said.
By publicly blaming Iran, the administration may hope to get Tehran to stop such attacks, said U.S. foreign policy veteran Dennis Ross, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“By attributing responsibility, by elevating and publicizing it, (they may hope) that the Iranians will realize they need to take a step back,” said Ross, adding: “I’m not sure that is going to be the result.”
“The Iranians, in response to our maximum pressure, are practicing their own version of maximum pressure,” he said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting Tehran when Thursday’s attacks occurred, carrying a message for Iran from Trump. Abe, whose country was a big importer of Iranian oil until Trump ratcheted up sanctions, urged all sides not to let tensions increase.
Iran said it would not respond to Trump’s overture, the substance of which was not made public.
Comment of Overwatch
미국은 증산하고 있지만 이란은 감산하고 있다.
미국은 셰일가스 혁명으로 인해 석유 생산량이 증가하고 있다.
그래서 공급 증가로 인해 유가는 하락하고 있다.
그러나 이란의 입장에서는 수익성이 악화되고 있기 때문에 공급을 줄이고 있다.
둘이 경쟁하고 있는 가운데, 이란이 유조선 두 대를 터트렸다고 미국에게 의심받고 있다.
유조선이 터져 공급을 못하게 되면 유가는 오르고 이는 이란입장에서 호재이기 때문에 미국으로부터 이러한 의심을 받고 있다.
정확한 용의자는 밝혀지지 않은 상태에서 여러 추측이 나오고 있는 상황이다.
실제로 속보가 나온 이후 유가는 4% 급등했다.
