Video Shows Iran Retrieving Unexploded Mine From Ship
ALLEN: CNN has learned new details about the attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. A U.S. official says shortly before those ships were hit with explosives, Iran tried to shoot down a U.S. drone with a missile. This comes after the U.S. military --</s>ALLEN: -- released this video. U.S. officials saying it shows Iranians removing an unexploded mine from the side of one of the tankers several hours after the initial attack. President Trump says he is convinced Tehran was behind the ship attacks and Tehran has strenuously denied being involved. Mr. Trump would not say what, if anything, the U.S. and its allies might do to protect this strategic waterway.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are a nation of terror. And they have changed a lot since I've been president. I can tell you they were unstoppable and now they're in deep, deep trouble. You can't --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you stop these outrageous acts? With 30 percent of the world's oil --</s>TRUMP: Well, we're going to see.</s>ALLEN: CNN correspondents are following this crisis on both sides of the Persian Gulf. Our Frederik Pleitgen is in Tehran and Sam Kiley is in the United Arab Emirates. Fred, first to you. Many allegations toward the country, the U.S. is blaming Iranians for the tanker attacks and for allegedly firing a missile at a U.S. drone. What is Iran's reaction to all of this?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, as far as the tankers are concerned, as you said, the Iranians still continue to say that they are not behind those attacks. With that video that the U.S. has presented, which allegedly shows them taking something off what the U.S. believes could be a mine off the side of a ship, the Iranians have specifically not commented on that video. The interesting thing though with Iranian news agencies, one of the main news agencies came out and said that they believe, as they say, that the American narrative is false because they say that the tanker crew of the ship that is in that video itself apparently told the leadership of the company that owns the tanker that it wasn't hit by a mine. They don't believe that the ship was hit by a mine. In fact, they say some of the sailors saw what they believe were projectiles being fired or flying toward the ship shortly before the explosions took place. Now, of course, very much unclear how much situational awareness those sailors would have had in the moments prior to the explosion and then, as that explosion was taking place. But certainly that narrative is something that is playing out very big here in Tehran. At the same time, the Iranians are accusing the U.S. of fanning the flames of that situation. They have continuously said that they don't want an escalation of the situation but if there is an escalation, that they would be ready for it. And it is quite interesting because both the Iranian president and foreign minister have been engaged in a massive trip of diplomacy over the past two days, Hassan Rouhani meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, saying that he believes that the U.S. is destabilizing the region and destabilizing the globe, as he said. And just this morning Rouhani upping the ante, saying if the Iranians don't get more out of the nuclear agreement, which is something that they are still trying to save and they will continue to scale back their commitments.</s>ALLEN: All right. Fred Pleitgen for us in Tehran. Let's turn to Sam Kiley in the UAE. Sam, U.S. officials say that Iran is now preventing that tanker from being towed, the tanker that was hit. What do you know about that and what are you hearing as far as reaction in the region to what is going on?</s>SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Natalie, we have just in the last 10 minutes spoken to Frontline, the owners of Frontline, owners and operators. And they flatly appear to be contradicting the American narrative that that tanker is being interfered by naval boats from the IRGC. They are saying that they have no information that would confirm the American allegations. They say that there are two tugs attached to that ship at the moment and a third is on its way. And they will then decide where to tow it as part of the salvaging operations and for future repairs so it can go on its way. So owners of Frontline, suggesting that the American narrative may be wide of the mark. It is conceivable, I suppose, that they don't yet have the information that the United States have. But we understand that they do have crew on board and would inevitably therefore be able to communicate with their owners. So we are seeing progressively here allegations coming out of the United States being contradicted, as Fred was saying there, the Japanese owners of the Kokuka Courageous saying that it wasn't hit, in their view, by a mine but a projectile, again, contradicting the United States' narrative -- Natalie.</s>ALLEN: Sam Kiley in the UAE, Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, we'll talk with you again certainly as there are more developments. Thank you. Let's talk more about this situation with Fawaz Gerges. He is chair of Contemporary Middle East Studies at the London School of Economics and the author of "Making the Arab World."</s>ALLEN: Fawaz, good to see you. Thanks for being with us. So we just heard from our two reporters in the region that perhaps the American narrative is off the mark. And Iran agreeing to that as well. If Iran was behind this, let's talk about what the purposes would be. And number two, first of all, do you have any doubts that this was Iran? Is the United States off the mark?</s>FAWAZ GERGES, CHAIR, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS' MIDDLE EAST STUDIES: You know, I don't know. Despite the tentative evidence provided by the U.S. government, there is no smoking gun. There are no fingerprints so far. There is no DNA evidence. We need more material evidence in order to really make a judgment. I'm an academic and you don't want me to speculate, right? So in this particular sense, I mean, I think that the jury is still out on the quality and the veracity of the evidence. And many people say throughout the world, as you know, we've been there before many times, in the 1950s, 2003 and what have you. But regardless, I think Iran continues to deny its involvement in the attacks in May against the tankers and today. The U.S. government has already enlightened Iran. And what I worry about -- you ask me about the big question -- is that all sides, they have their fingers on the trigger. This is one of the most dangerous theater in the world, the Gulf region, not only because 50 percent of the world's oil passes through the passageway, because it is one of the most militarized place in the world, much more than the Korean Peninsula, much more than the Indian- Pakistani theater. And also because the leading players in the region, Iran and Saudi Arabia, view the conflict through existential terms. And what you have now is that the United States is in the midst of this conflict. It would take a trigger. Even though everyone says no one wants conflict, it would take a spark to ignite a big fire in the region.</s>ALLEN: Do you think the United States in any sense has been provoking Iran with the president coming in and immediately pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal when Europe wanted to stay in it? We heard the president say, quote, "They were unstoppable, now they are in deep trouble."</s>GERGES: Well, look, let's just cancel politics for a minute. Just for a minute for our own viewers. Why you and I are talking about the likelihood of a bigger clash in the Gulf. Why are we talking about the attacks against the ships in May, the tankers and now? Why are we talking about the evidence, who carried out the attacks? What is the context? And again, I'm not talking politics. The context is that an American president basically canceled an international agreement signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and six great powers. This is the context. We know that Iranian leaders are troublemakers. We know that Iran has been infiltrating and penetrating many of their neighbors' countries in Iraq and Syria and Yemen, others. But the current crisis, the context lies in the fact that the president is a destructor. He has disrupted the status quo. This is the other side of the story. And, again, I'm not talking politics. The status quo is untenable for Iran. Why? The Iranian economy is bleeding. Iran is in pain. And the bleeding of the Iranian economy has major consequences on the internal situation in Iran itself. And that is why, again, from a realist -- offensive realist perspective, if I were sitting in Tehran, I would do everything in my power to disrupt the status quo. Because Iran is squeezed. Iranian leaders' back is to the wall. And that is why, even though I don't take the evidence, my take -- and please, don't take it very seriously -- is that Iranian leaders are engaged in what I call a calculated, dangerous escalation with the United States and its allies in order to increase the costs of the status quo. And that is why the situation is very dangerous because both the U.S. president is a disrupter and because Iranian leaders and neighboring countries view the conflict through existential lenses, part of threat and security for their own regimes. And that is why, despite many people say that war will not come given the --</s>GERGES: -- high stakes involved. And the important implications, I fear, that this particular theater in the Gulf region is where war might come accidentally or by miscalculation.</s>ALLEN: And that has been the fear for some time. Fawaz Gerges, we always appreciate your insights. Thanks so much for joining us.</s>GERGES: Thank you.</s>ALLEN: Hong Kong is suspending a bill that sparked a week of outrage. But Chief Executive, Carrie Lam says that she will not withdraw it completely. We'll have more on these developments which have happened in the past hour here at CNN NEWSROOM.