UAE does not point fingers at any state for tankers’ attack: Abdullah

WASHINGTON / WAM

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that circumstantial and compelling evidence is needed to apportion blame for the last month’s attacks on four oil tankers in the country’s territorial waters.
“The UAE is not pointing fingers of accusation at any state for the recent attacks on four oil tankers in the country’s territorial waters since clear, scientific and convincing evidence is required to do that. Should any other country have clearer evidence, the international community would certainly take it into consideration,” HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said in a joint press con- ference he held on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov, during his current official visit to Russia.
“We are living in a turbulent region. A region that is crucial to the world and we don’t desire more volatilities and tensions, as we rather are seeking more stability and development,” he added.
“We will continue our commitment to professionalism on this issue. We have already presented the findings of our first probe to the Security Council. The three states concerned with the issue, namely UAE, Norway and Saudi Arabia, issued their statement which has also been sent to the International Maritime Organisation. We defined the attacks as aggressions that were most probably carried out by actors with a considerable amount of intelligence and technical expertise.”
The UAE’s top diplomat added that the US Secretary of State was in the UAE a few days ago and “we discussed during his visit a number of issues, including the situation with Iran.”