DUBAI: Arab nations condemned what has been labeled as a “terrorists attack” on an oil tanker as it unloaded fuel at Jeddah port.
A small boat laden with explosives targeting on the Singapore-flagged BW Rhine, which was carrying 60,000 tons of gasoline, causing an explosion and a fire on board.
The ship’s crew put out the fire and there were no casualties, but parts of the vessel’s hull were damaged.
Kuwait expressed its strong condemnation of the attack, stating that the continuation of “these terrorist acts” on Saudi Arabia threaten the stability of the region, state news agency SPA reported.
These attacks also threaten the freedom of navigation and global energy supplies, and represent a flagrant violation of international laws, said Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah.
He called on the international community and the UN Security Council to take “serious action” to end these attacks.
Jordan echoed Kuwait’s condemnation of the “cowardly terrorist act” on the vital installations of Saudi Arabia.
The spokesman for the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs, Ambassador Dhaifallah Al-Fayez, affirmed Jordan’s support to Saudi Arabia in the face of threats to the Kingdom’s security and the well-being of its citizens.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the “terror attack” that “affects the security and safety of maritime traffic.”
Bahrain stressed the need for the international community to take measures on terrorist organizations behind these attacks who “constitute a major source of tension in the region,” and to confront all those who support or finance them, the ministry said.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also expressed Lebanon’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia after condemning the attack.
In a statement on Tuesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation affirmed that the UAE considers this attack “new evidence of terrorist groups' endeavours to undermine security and stability in the region.”
While Oman and the French embassy in Saudi Arabia echoed regional sentiment in condemning that attack.
— La France en Arabie (@FranceinKSA) December 15, 2020
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, warned of the dangers of the international community’s continued disregard for the “terrorist activities” of the Iranian regime and its support to the Houthi militia’s activities in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandeb.
“These terrorist activities come in the context of Iran's scheme and its sectarian militias to tamper with security and stability, spread chaos and terrorism in the region and threaten international interests,” Eryani said in a statement to the Yemeni state news agency Saba New.
Eryani called the targeting of ships was an “escalation of terrorist activities” and threatens the world’s oil supplies, energy security, and the global economy.
Al-Eryani called on the international community, the United Nations and the permanent members of the Security Council to fulfil their legal responsibilities to stop these “terrorist threats”, maintain international peace and security, and to take measures to classify the Houthi militia as a terrorist group.
The European Union expressed its concern over the attack, saying attacks that threaten the security of Saudi Arabia and the region and freedom of navigation must cease.
“The EU is very concerned by the recent attack against a ship transporting oil to Jeddah. Such attacks which threaten the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the stability of the region as well as the freedom of navigation, must stop,” said Patrick Simonnet, ambassador and head of the EU delegation to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.
The EU is very concerned by the recent attack against a ship transporting oil to #Jeddah. Such attacks which threaten the security of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the stability of the region as well as the freedom of navigation, must stop. @KSAMOFA @modgovksa
— Patrick Simonnet (@eusimonpa) December 15, 2020
France’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack, saying it is a target on the Kingdom’s security and regional stability.
