Tension in the Persian Gulf: They denounced the sabotage against two tankers, one of whom was traveling to the United States.

"We are very concerned about the risk of an accident resulting from an involuntary escalation on both sides", British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said before meeting his European counterparts and Pompeo in Brussels.

The authorities of Saudi Arabia, an ally of the United States, They said "acts of sabotage" against Saudi ships off the United Arab Emirates, another country close to the United States that has reinforced their military presence in the Gulf in the context of tensions with Iran.

"Two Saudi oil companies have been sabotaged in the UAE's exclusive economic zone, off the emirate of Fujairah while they were preparing to enter the gulf of Arabia ", said Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih, quoted by the official agency SPA.

On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates also spoke of "acts of sabotage "against four merchant vessels of different nationalities in the east of the emirate of Fujaira, without identifying the authors but qualifying as "serious" the event.

In Iran, The authorities ruled the "acts of sabotage" against ships off the coast of the UAE "disturbing" and called for the opening of an investigation.

"These incidents in the sea of ​​Oman are disturbing and regrettable," said Abbas Musavi, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Tehran, who called for an investigation and warned against the "adventurism" of "foreign players" in the region to disrupt shipping.

All Gulf stock markets fell on a half-day Monday, including Riyadh (-2.7%), Dubai (-3.7%) and Abu Dhabi (-3%).

The information channel News from the sky He has broadcast footage of one of the Saudi vessels under the name "Al Marzoqah".

The Saudi energy minister badured thatThe actions against the Saudi oil tankers caused neither victims nor oil spill, but "significant damage to the structures of two ships".

One of the two oil tankers was about to receive his cargo of oil in the Saudi Ras Tanura terminal for delivery to US customerssaid the minister.

Later, the Saudi Foreign Ministry "condemned" this "criminal act" which constitutes a "serious threat" to shipping and "disturbing impact for regional and international peace and security".

Same as UAE, Saudi Arabia has not designated any responsible party. Neither have the two countries specified what type of "sabotage" is involved.

For the moment, These acts of sabotage are a mystery.

However, on Sunday, the UAE government asked the international community "take responsibility for preventing this type of action from being committed by parties seeking to threaten the safety of navigation".

The port of Fujairah is the only UAE terminal located on the coast of the Oman Sea, this avoids pbading through the Strait of Hormuz, where most Gulf oil exports circulate.

Many times Iran has threatened to close this strategic strait, crucial for global shipping and oil supplies, in the event of a military confrontation with the United States.

American reinforcements

The announcement of these incidents by two allies close to Washington comes in a context of new tensions between the United States and Iran after the strengthening of US sanctions against Tehran, which suspended some of the commitments of its nuclear program.

On Sunday, the State Department said that the head of the American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, He had decided to meet Monday in Brussels to discuss "urgent issues", especially with Iran, with European officials.

As a result, he canceled a planned visit to Moscow, said a US official.

Pompeo had already canceled over the past few days, his planned visits to Berlin and Greenland to deal with the Iranian issue

The State Department did not specify which meetings are scheduled on the agenda of Mike Pompeo,European Union (EU) foreign ministers hold their monthly meeting Monday in Brussels.