Western media outlets, especially American ones, are attempting to cover maritime incidents in the Persian Gulf region in a way that portrays insecurity is growing there.
On Tuesday, certain media outlets broadly published reports on maritime incidents in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, but the point is that none of the reports has any clear source or authority and most of them are instilling insecurity in the region.The Times defense editor reported that a Singaporean ship named Asphalt Princess hit a mine off the coast of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. Then, certain Western media came in and claimed that the ship may be hijacked or attacked by a drone and or boarded by a group of 8-9 armed individuals, but in fact, there is no document or official source to confirm the rumor. The media outlets used phrases such as “it is said” or “media sources said.”American news agency Associated Press (AP) reported that at least four ships are out of control in the UAE coast. Sky News Arabia claimed that the hijackers who boarded a vessel off the coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman have left the targeted ship, without elaborating.In response to such a propaganda campaign, Saeed Khatibzadeh, the spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, ruled out the unofficial news, warning that such baseless allegations are in line with political objectives of certain players.Expressing Iran’s readiness to cooperate with regional countries to investigate the maritime incidents, he said that the Iranian naval forces are prepared to assist vessels in the region as soon as possible.An Iranian military official in the Persian Gulf told Nour News that the Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman reported that the situation is completely normal and there is no official report of any incident in the region.It seems that certain Western and regional media are trying to portray the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman as insecure to pursue their agenda, which is not yet clear.