The Guardian:

The US is hoping to “build international consensus” around what officials claim is Iran’s responsibility for damaging two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as UK officials joined the US in formally accusing Iran of carrying out the attacks.

The efforts come after the US released grainy surveillance footage of an alleged Iran Revolutionary Guard patrol boat, with men who appear to place a magnetic limpet mine on the hull of one of the ships.

The acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, said the US was looking to “build international consensus to this international problem” on Friday.

The attack was not only a “US situation”, Shanahan said. He listed several other countries that operated vessels in the waters. “When you look at the situation, a Norwegian ship, Japanese ship, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UAE,” Shanahan said, referring to attacks a few weeks prior.

Oil prices have risen following the attack, which came in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping channel for international oil supplies.

The UK officially joined the US in accusing Iran of perpetrating the attack on Friday night, in a statement from the Foreign Office saying: “It is almost certain that a branch of the Iranian military – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – attacked the two tankers on 13 June. No other state or non-state actor could plausibly have been responsible.”

The statement continued: “There is recent precedent for attacks by Iran against oil tankers. The Emirati-led investigation of the 12 May attack on four oil tankers near the port of Fujairah [in the UAE] concluded that it was conducted by a sophisticated state actor. We are confident that Iran bears responsibility for that attack.”

Although Donald Trump claimed the attacks had “Iran written all over” them, other heads of state have been more cautious in assigning blame.

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, called for an independent investigation.

“It’s very important to know the truth and it’s very important that responsibilities are clarified. Obviously that can only be done if there is an independent entity that verifies those facts,” Guterres told reporters on Friday.

The German foreign minister was also cautious, saying the video released by US Central Command was “not enough” to make an assessment, according to ABC News.

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