The United States and Iran haven’t been able to see eye to eye since Donald Trump stepped in as President. Trump first refused to renew the Iran deal, despite the fact that Iran was complying with the requirements and the United States’ partners were urging Trump to continue with the deal. Moreover, when some countries continued to buy Iranian oil even after the introduction of sanctions, Trump’s Administration took active steps to try and drive Iranian oil exports to 0.
Now the hostile relationship between the two countries has escalated once again, as the United States said Iran is responsible for the attacks on oil tankers owned by Front Altair and Kokuka Courageous in the Gulf of Oman carried out yesterday. The attacks on these two tankers caused them to explode, which disturbed oil facilities in the region and caused an undersupply in the oil market.
According to a video released by the American military command, the US believes the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp to be responsible for the explosions. Part of the reason Iran is suspected is that small, seemingly random attacks on tankers like these began only after Iran’s position on the oil market became problematic.