The US military has released a video allegedly showing Iran's Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) removing what they claim to be a limpet mine from the side of one of the tankers which came under attack earlier in the Gulf of Oman.

The recording shows a small boat approaching the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous tanker, before one of the men on it removes an object from the tanker's hull, believed to be a unexploded mine.

Video recorded by U.S aircraft of an IRGC Gashti-class patrol boat removing an unexploded limpet mine from M/T Kokuka Courageous. Courageous suffered an explosion while in #GulfofOman. Her 21 crew members were rescued by #USNavy destroyer #USSBainbridge. https://t.co/YpiEUALHWjpic.twitter.com/rjWKJN0qcf — U.S. Navy (@USNavy) June 14, 2019

“At 4:10pm local time an IRGC Gashti Class patrol boat approached the M/T Kokuka Courageous and was observed and recorded removing the unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous ,” Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command, said in a statement.

U.S. CENTCOM has released an image of the damage to “Kokuka Courageous” on June 13, 2019. It shows the reported damage on the rear end of the tanker, and the object which is said to be a “likely limpet mine”. pic.twitter.com/cvFsx5ci6D — Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) June 14, 2019

The quality of the footage provided makes it impossible to independently verify CENTCOM's claims. However, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pinned the blame on Iran, as usual citing classified “intelligence,” many US media rushed to speculate that Iranians must’ve been trying to recover ‘evidence’ of their alleged involvement in the attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Also on rt.com ‘Suspicious doesn’t begin to describe what happened’: Iran’s FM on tanker ‘attacks’ in Gulf of Oman

Tehran insists that it had nothing to do with the incident and that its ships rushed to the rescue of the vessels in distress near its territorial waters. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has meanwhile essentially accused the Americans of trying to pull off a false flag attack in order to “sabotage diplomacy” and cover up their own “economic terrorism” against the Islamic Republic.

Also on rt.com Backing Pompeo's ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ incident is a massive anti-Iran online propaganda campaign

Like this story? Share it with a friend!