BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraq’s army said on Saturday that explosives experts with its naval forces had successfully dismantled a mine that had been stuck to an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf two days earlier.
According to the statement, Iraqi authorities have opened an investigation into the incident. No group has claimed responsibility for the location of the mine.
The announcement comes a day after Iraq confirmed by private security firms that a mine had been discovered on the side of a tanker hired by Iraq’s Oil Marketing Company, known as SOMO, because it was filling another vessel. It said Iraqi teams were demolishing the mine.
Iraq did not provide further details, but the two private security firms said the discovery was likely a slack mine in the MT Pola, a tanker with the flag of Liberia.
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to the side of a ship, usually by a diver of special forces. It explodes later and can significantly damage a vessel.
The discovery comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US in the last days of President Donald Trump’s administration.
America has already flown B-52 bombers and sent a nuclear submarine to the Persian Gulf over what Trump officials describe as the possibility of an Iranian attack on the one-year anniversary of the US drunken strike near Baghdad that killed an Iranian top general . , Qassem Soleimani, and the greatest Iraqi leader of the militia, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Iraq is celebrating the anniversary this week with a series of events, including a ceremony at Baghdad’s airport on Saturday night, where the strike that killed the two men took place.
Thousands of mourners took part in a mock funeral procession on the highway leading to the airport, which was blocked by cars on Saturday night.
Posters of the dead men adorned on both sides of the road, lined with tents serving food and drink for those walking on the highway. The scene of the bombing has been transformed into a sanctuary-like area enclosed by red ropes, with a photograph of Soleimani and al-Muhandis in the center, while mourners light candles.
Scratch marks were still visible on the asphalt and walls in the area.
Soleimani led Iran’s revolutionary guard, Quds Force, responsible for Islamic State foreign operations and regular transportation between Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. His assassination dramatically increased tensions in the region and brought the US and Iran to the brink of war.