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US dispatches USS Mason to Gulf of Oman after attack on tankers

Guided missile destroyer USS Mason will join the destroyer USS Bainbridge near one of the attacked tankers in the Gulf of Oman

WASHINGTON, June 14. /TASS/. The United States have dispatched USS Mason to the Gulf of Oman after an attack on two tankers, spokesman for the US Central Command (CENTCOM) Lietenant Colonel Earl Brown said on Thursday.

Guided missile destroyer USS Mason will join the destroyer USS Bainbridge near one of the attacked tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Brown said.

"We have no interest in engaging in a new conflict in the Middle East. We will defend our interests, but a war with Iran is not in our strategic interest, nor in the best interest of the international community," CENTCOM noted.

Two tankers caught fire in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday after a torpedo attack. The crews, with Russian nationals among their members, were evacuated by the Iranian rescue services and taken to the port of Jask.

The Kokuka Courageous tanker, registered in Panama and owned by a Japanese transport company, was carrying methanol from Saudi Arabia to Singapore. The Marshall Islands-flagged Front Altair vessel, owned by Norway's Frontline, was sailing from the United Arab Emirates to Taiwan with petrochemical feedstock.