In addition to the UAE and Saudi Arabia .. 3 Western countries participate in the investigation targeting tankers

An American official said on Tuesday that US, French, Norwegian and Saudi experts were taking part in the UAE investigation into what it said were sabotage operations targeting at dawn last Sunday four ships, including three oil tankers on the coast of Fujairah.

In an interview with AFP, the official did not specify the number of investigators, saying only that the investigation team included experts from countries allied to the UAE.

US and Saudi media reported on Monday that US experts conducted a preliminary survey revealed gaps between 5 and 10 feet in some of the structures of the target ships, namely Saudi oil tankers "Almzruqp" and "Amjad" and the Norwegian oil tanker "Andrea Victory" and the cargo ship " Which is flying the flag of the UAE.

The UAE authorities did not specify the nature of the sabotage of the four ships, nor did they charge a specific destination.

However, a US official noted that US intelligence agencies believe that sympathizers with or working for Iran may be behind the still-obscure attacks.

Reuters quoted the US official as saying that US agencies do not believe that the Iranian forces carried out the attack, and believes that the port may be the Houthi group or an Iraqi militia in support of Iran.

A US official said earlier after preliminary inspection of the ships that there are suspicions of involvement of Iran or its pro-operation, but he made clear that there is no conclusive evidence of that.

In exchange for US statements, Tehran indicated that there might be a third party behind the attacks or that they were fabricated for further escalation in the Gulf.

In the context of the Iranian parliament spokesman Bahruz Nemati Tuesday that targeting tankers off the coast of the UAE is "Israeli harm."

Images published by international news agencies showed limited damage to some of the ships, which the UAE said were sabotaged. Abu Dhabi did not say whether the alleged attackers had used explosives.

The first news reported by the Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen reported explosions in the port of Fujairah, which was denied by the UAE authorities, which later confirmed the four ships were vandalized outside the port.