Limpet mine fragments and a magnet were displayed by a U.S. Navy expert Wednesday who said they carried a striking resemblance to Iran-issue munitions.
The U.S. military released an extensive range of images Tuesday it said showed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) removing an unexploded limpet mine from the Japanese-owned tanker Kokuka Courageous, which was hit by explosions along with the Norwegian-owned Front Altair ship on June 13.
Now it has linked the mine with recovered fragments from the site of the Gulf of Oman attack.
Journalists take pictures of a magnet the U.S. Navy says came from a limpet mine that didn’t explode on a Japanese-owned oil tanker at a 5th Fleet base, during a trip organized by the Navy for journalists, near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Cmdr. Sean Kido of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said Wednesday that the limpet mine used on a Japanese-owned oil tanker last week “bears a striking resemblance” to similar Iranian mines. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
“The limpet mine that was used in the attack is distinguishable and also strikingly bearing a resemblance to Iranian mines that have already been publicly displayed in Iranian military parades,” said Commander Sean Kido, commanding officer of an explosive ordnance dive and salvage task group in the Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT).
He was speaking to reporters at a NAVCENT facility near the UAE port of Fujairah. Small fragments said to have been removed from the Kokuka Courageous were on display alongside a magnet purportedly left by the IRCG team allegedly captured on video.
Cmdr. Kido stressed the damage done to the Kokuka Courageous was “not consistent with an external flying object hitting the ship,” despite the ship’s owner blaming “flying objects” for the damage received.
He pointed to nail holes visible in the hull as indicating how the mine was attached to the ship.