Breaking News English

Tensions are [risen / rising] in the Middle East over the latest attacks on oil tankers. The USA is blaming Iran for the attacks [in / on] two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday. The tankers are [owned / disowned] by Japan and Norway. They were hit by [bastes / blasts] while navigating waters close to the [strategically / strategy] important Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Around a fifth of the world's oil [pass / passes] through the Strait, which is just 68km [at / of] its narrowest point. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran was behind the "blatant assault" on the [vassals / vessels] . He said the U.S. would defend itself and its [allies / allied] against "Iranian aggression" in the region. However, he [provided / proofed] no evidence that Iran was behind the attacks.

The attacks are the second such [incidental / incidents] carried out against tankers in the past month. Two Saudi tankers were [subterfuge / sabotaged] in the UAE port of Fujairah last month. The U.S. says the tankers were hit by [mines / miners] and posted a video online of [proposed / supposed] Iranian forces [removing / removal] an unexploded mine off the [bull / hull] of one of the ships. Iran's Foreign Minister described the attacks [was / as] "suspicious". He said Iran's navy was investigating them. Iran called the U.S. [accusations / accuses] "unfounded," "inflammatory" and "Iranophobic". The Japanese owner of one of the tankers said his vessel was [sucked / struck] by some kind of missile and not by a mine. The United Nations cautioned that the truth needed to be "[clearly / clarity] established".