WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Norway have notified the United Nations about the sabotage attack that targeted four commercial ships in the territorial waters of the UAE on May 12.
In a written statement, the trio jointly said the attack “posed a threat to the safety and security” of international shipping and maritime navigation. It said no one was injured, but the hulls of at least three of the four ships were damaged.
Two of the vessels were Saudi-owned, one was Norwegian and the fourth was an Emirati oil tanker.
Details around the alleged acts of sabotage off the coast of the UAE’s port of Fujairah remain unclear. The joint statement does not say who they suspect was responsible. It said the three countries, working with international partners, are investigating.
While Gulf officials have declined to say who they suspected was responsible, the attack demonstrated the raised risks for shippers in a region vital to global energy supplies as tensions are increasing between the US and Iran over its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.
Earlier, the US has warned sailors of the potential for attacks on commercial sea traffic, and regional allies of the United Arab Emirates condemned the sabotage as the tankers were off the coast of the UAE port city of Fujairah.
A US official in Washington, without offering any evidence, told the AP that an American military team’s initial assessment indicated Iran or Iranian allies used explosives to blow holes in the ships. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation, agreed to reveal the findings only if not quoted by name. The US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which patrols the Mideast and operates from a base in Fujairah, has repeatedly declined to comment.
The US 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 Arabian Gulf to counter alleged, still-unspecified threats from Tehran.
UN notified of ships targeted in UAE waters
UN notified of ships targeted in UAE waters
- Details around the alleged acts of sabotage off the coast of the UAE’s port of Fujairah remain unclear
Hamas calls for sanctions against Israel over new West Bank moves
- Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers
- Hamas hailed the condemnation as “a step in the right direction in confronting the occupation’s expansionist plans
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas on Tuesday called for sanctions against Israel, welcoming a joint condemnation by nearly 20 countries of new Israeli measures aimed at tightening control over the occupied West Bank.
Israel has approved a series of initiatives this month backed by far-right ministers, including launching a process to register land in the West Bank as “state property” and allowing Israelis to purchase land there directly.
Late on Monday, 18 countries including regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and European powers France and Spain, slammed Israel over the recent moves.
They “are part of a clear trajectory that aims to change the reality on the ground and to advance unacceptable de facto annexation,” the countries said.
“Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution.”
Hamas hailed the condemnation as “a step in the right direction in confronting the occupation’s expansionist plans, which flagrantly violate international law and relevant UN resolutions.”
The group in a statement urged the countries involved “to impose deterrent sanctions and exert pressure on the fascist occupation government to halt its policies aimed at entrenching annexation, colonial settlement and forced displacement.”
It said the Israeli measures were part of ongoing “aggression” against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
In addition to roughly three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
Israel’s current government has accelerated settlement expansion, approving a record 54 settlements in 2025, according to activists.
The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, is envisioned as the core of a future Palestinian state, but many on Israel’s religious right view it as part of Israel’s historic homeland.
