The hijackers who captured a vessel off the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman left the ship Wednesday, the British navy reported, as radio traffic appeared to reveal a crew member onboard saying Iranian gunmen had stormed the asphalt tanker.

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The incident – described by the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations the night before as a "potential hijack" – revived fears of an escalation in Mideast waters and ended with as much mystery as it began.

Hints of what unfolded on the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess emerged with a maritime radio recording obtained by commodities pricing firm Argus Media and shared with The Associated Press. In the audio, a crew member can be heard telling the Emirati coast guard that five or six armed Iranians had boarded the tanker.

"Iranian people are onboard with ammunition," the crew member says. "We are … now, drifting. We cannot tell you exact our ETA to [get to] Sohar," the port in Oman listed on the vessel's tracker as its destination. It was not clear whether the crew members, whom he identified as Indian and Indonesian, were in danger at the time of the recording.

No one took responsibility for the brief seizure, which underscored mounting tensions as Iran and the United States seek a resolution to their standoff over Tehran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In an apparent response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh on Tuesday denied that Iran played any role. He described the recent maritime attacks in the Persian Gulf as "completely suspicious."

The rising tensions have played out in the waters of the Persian Gulf, where just last week a drone attack on an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman killed two crew members. The West blamed Iran for the raid, which marked the first known fatal assault in the shadow war targeting vessels in Mideast waters. Iran denied involvement.

Late on Tuesday, the intruders boarded the Asphalt Princess sailing off the coast of Fujairah, authorities said. The official news agency of Oman's military said it received reports that the Asphalt Princess had been hijacked and immediately dispatched Royal Air Force maritime patrol aircraft and naval vessels "to contribute to securing international waters."

In the recorded radio traffic, when the Emirati coast guard asks the crew member what the Iranian gunmen were doing onboard, he says he "cannot understand the [Iranians]," his voice muffled, before trying to hand over the radio to someone else. The call then cuts off.

Speaking from Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that American officials also "believe that these personnel were Iranian, but we're not in a position to confirm this at this time."

Possible signs of trouble began to emerge that evening when six oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were "not under command," according to MarineTraffic.com. That typically means a vessel has lost power and can no longer steer.

Satellite-tracking data had showed the Asphalt Princess gradually heading toward Iranian waters off the port of Jask early Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic.com. Hours later, however, it stopped and changed course toward Oman, just before the British navy group declared the hijackers had departed and the vessel was "safe."

In an analysis, maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global described the seizure of the Asphalt Princess as the latest Iranian response to outside pressures, economic conflicts and other grievances.

"Iran has consistently shown that in conducting this kind of operation, it is calculated in doing so, both by targeting vessels directly connected with ongoing disputes and [vessels]operating within the 'grey space' of legitimacy," which may be involved in illicit trade, Dryad Global said.

The owner of the Asphalt Princess, listed as Emirati free zone-based Glory International, could not be reached for comment.

The US military's Mideast-based 5th Fleet and the British Defense Ministry also did not respond to requests for comment. The Emirati government did not acknowledge the incident.

The Gulf of Oman sits near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes. Fujairah, on the UAE's eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

For the past two years, after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from Iran's nuclear deal and imposed crushing sanctions, the waters off Fujairah have witnessed a series of explosions and hijackings. The US Navy has blamed Iran for a series of limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers.

In 2019, Iran's Revolutionary Guard detained a British-flagged tanker, the Stena Impero, near the Strait of Hormuz. Last year, an oil tanker sought by the US for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked off the Emirati coast and later ended up in Iran, though Tehran never acknowledged the incident.

And in January, armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran. While Iran claimed it detained the ship over pollution concerns, it appeared to link the seizure to negotiations over billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korean banks.

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Last week's attack on the oil tanker Mercer Street off Oman, killing two, has drawn criticism from the US, the United Kingdom and Israel. Israel has launched a diplomatic effort at the United Nations over the attack. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday about the attack.

Blinken and Raab spoke about "ongoing efforts to forge a coordinated response to Iran's attack," according to the State Department. Raab stressed on Twitter the "need for Iran to stop its destabilizing behavior."

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Iran will respond promptly to any threat against its security, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday, as the United States, Israel and Britain blamed Tehran for an attack on an Israeli-managed tanker off the coast of Oman.

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"The Islamic Republic of Iran has no hesitation in protecting its security and national interests and will respond promptly and strongly to any possible adventure," state television quoted Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying.

It said Khatibzadeh "strongly regretted the baseless accusations made by the British Foreign Secretary against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which were repeated by the US Secretary of State in the same context and contained contradictory, false and provocative accusations."

"Although Iran considers the threats of Western officials and the Zionist regime [Israel] to be more of a propaganda gesture, any action against Iran's national interests and security will be met with a strong and decisive response," an unnamed official told Nournews news agency on Monday.

"And Washington and London will be directly responsible for the consequences," the official told Nournews, which is close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Also Monday, UK Minister for the MIddle East James Cleverly summoned Iran's ambassador to the Foreign Office on Monday in response to the attack on the Mercer Street, which killed a British national and Romanian.

"Minister Cleverly reiterated that Iran must immediately cease actions that risk international peace and security, and reinforced that vessels must be allowed to navigate freely in accordance with international law,'' the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement.

On Sunday, the US, the UK, and Russia gave Israel the "green light" to attack Iranian targets following a deadly drone strike last Friday on an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, the Kuwait-based newspaper Al-Jarida reported, quoting American officials.

 Both the US and UK joined Israel in alleging that Iran carried out the fatal drone strike on the oil tanker Mercer Street, putting further pressure on Tehran as it denied being involved in the assault.

Calling it an "unlawful and callous attack," British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said his country and its allies planned a coordinated response over the strike Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon followed, saying there was "no justification for this attack, which follows a pattern of attacks and other belligerent behavior."

The strike on the Mercer Street marked the first-known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran over its tattered nuclear deal.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Iran and its militia allies have used so-called "suicide" drones in attacks previously, which crash into targets and detonate their explosive payloads.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett went further than Blinken and Raab in his remarks Sunday at a cabinet meeting, saying: "I declare unequivocally: Iran is the one that carried out the attack on the ship." He then accused Tehran of "trying to shirk responsibility" for the attack and called its denial "cowardly."

He then made a point to stare directly into the camera and slowly warn: "We know, at any rate, know how to convey the message to Iran in our own way."

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Satellite photographs taken Thursday show the burned hulk that remains of Iran's biggest warship after it caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman.

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The photos from Planet Labs Inc., analyzed by The Associated Press, show the 207-meter (679-foot) Kharg just off the coast of the Iranian port city of Jask, surrounded by a sea of oil-slicked waters. Iranian officials have not acknowledged the pollution left behind by the ship's sinking on Wednesday.

The photos show the ship partially submerged, with debris floating in the water around it.

Iranian state media reported that 400 sailors and trainee cadets on board fled the vessel, while 33 suffered injuries in the incident. Iranian officials have offered no cause for the fire.

The fire Wednesday aboard the Kharg warship follows a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019, targeting commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman. The US Navy accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, timed explosives typically attached by divers to a vessel's hull.

Iran denied that, though US Navy footage showed Revolutionary Guard members removing one unexploded limpet mine from a ship. The attacks came amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Negotiations on saving the accord continue in Vienna.

In April, an Iranian ship called the MV Saviz believed to be a Guard base and anchored for years in the Red Sea off Yemen was targeted in an attack suspected to have been carried out by Israel. It escalated a years-long shadow war in the Middle East between the two countries, ranging from strikes in Syria, assaults on ships and attacks on Iran's nuclear program.

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The largest ship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, Iran's semiofficial news agencies reported.

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The blaze began around 2:25 a.m. and firefighters tried to contain it, the Fars news agency said. The vessel sank near the Iranian port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran on the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz – the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Photos circulated on Iranian social media of sailors wearing life jackets evacuating the vessel as a fire burned behind them. State TV and semiofficial news agencies referred to the Kharg as a "training ship." Fars published video of thick, black smoke rising from the ship early Wednesday morning.

The Kharg serves as one of a few vessels in the Iranian navy capable of providing replenishment at sea for its other ships. It also can lift heavy cargo and serve as a launch point for helicopters. The ship, built in Britain and launched in 1977, entered the Iranian navy in 1984 after lengthy negotiations that followed Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iranian officials denied speculation on social media that the vessel was making its way to Venezuela together with another ship, both of which are believed to function as forward operating bases for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

They also offered no cause for the fire aboard the Kharg. However, it comes after a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019 targeting ships in the Gulf of Oman.

The sinking of the Kharg marks the latest naval disaster for Iran. In 2020 during an Iranian military training exercise, a missile mistakenly struck a naval vessel near the port of Jask, killing19 sailors and wounding 15. Also in 2018, an Iranian navy destroyer sank in the Caspian Sea.

In April, Iran said one of its vessels, the Saviz, had been targeted in the Red Sea, after media reports that the ship had been attacked with limpet mines.

At the time, Saudi news network Al Arabiya, citing a report in The New York Times, reported that Israel informed the United States that it had struck the Saviz in retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Israeli-owned cargo vessels.

It was the latest in a reported series of attacks on Israeli- and Iranian-owned cargo ships since late February in which the two arch-enemies accused each other of responsibility.

Meanwhile, an Iranian fighter jet developed a "technical problem" and crashed on Tuesday, killing both of the aircraft's pilots, state TV reported.

The report said the incident happened in the country's southwest, in the city of Dezful, 444 kilometers (270 miles) from the capital, Tehran and near the border with Iraq.

The report said an investigation was underway as to what had caused the malfunction of the Iranian air force's F-5 fighter jet. The deadly malfunction reportedly occurred before takeoff.

Iran's air force has an assortment of US-made military aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It also has Russian-made MiG and Sukhoi planes. Decades of Western sanctions have made it hard to maintain the aging fleet.

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An Israeli-owned cargo ship that suffered a mysterious explosion last week has left Dubai's port and was transiting the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday, satellite tracking data showed. The suspected attack has raised tensions in the region.

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The giant MV Helios Ray, a Bahamian-flagged roll-on, roll-off vehicle cargo ship, was sailing along the Omani coast toward the Arabian Sea, according to satellite-tracking data from website MarineTraffic.com, days after docking in Dubai for repairs. Overnight, the vessel passed through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a third of all oil traded by sea flows. Its destination remained unclear.

Last week, a blast struck the cargo ship in the same waterway, raising alarms about ship security in the Mideast. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Israel's regional foe Iran of attacking the ship. Iran swiftly denied the charge.

A United Nations ship database identified the vessel's owners as a Tel Aviv-based firm called Ray Shipping Ltd.

Abraham Ungar, 74, who goes by "Rami," is the founder of Ray Shipping Ltd., and is known as one of the richest men in Israel. He made his fortune in shipping and construction.

Tensions between Iran and the West have escalated in recent weeks as Iran accelerates its nuclear program, seeking to pressure the United States to grant sanctions relief it received under its tattered 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. In the current standoff, each side is insisting the other move first to return to the deal, which former US President Donald Trump abandoned nearly three years ago.

"If there is a strong will," reviving the atomic accord "will be very easy and can be done in a couple of days ... it can be done within a week," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated in a televised speech Wednesday.

"Yet we have not seen a single serious step taken by the US," he said.

It remains unclear what caused the explosion, which reportedly punched two holes in the vessel's port side and two on its starboard side, just above the waterline. The incident recalled the summer of 2019, when the US military blamed Iran for a series of suspected attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. The Navy had alleged that Iran used limpet mines – designed to be attached magnetically to a ship's hull – to strike some of the vessels. Iran denied any role in the suspected assaults.

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Iran fired cruise missiles Thursday as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported, under surveillance of what appeared to be a US nuclear submarine dispatched to the region amid heightened tensions between the countries.

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Helicopter footage of the exercise released by Iran's navy showed what resembled an Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, the USS Georgia, which the US Navy last month said had been sent to the Persian Gulf – a rare announcement aimed at underscoring American military might in the region.

Iran's navy did not identify the submarine but warned the boat to steer clear of the area, where missiles were being launched from land units and ships in the gulf and the northern part of the Indian Ocean. When asked for comment on the reported submarine sighting, Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a spokeswoman for the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, responded: "We don't talk about submarine operations."

Footage of the reported "foreign submarine" that entered the #Iran|ian Navy's exercise area earlier today.

Cc @CovertShores and other sub folks. pic.twitter.com/167H8r7ap4

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) January 14, 2021

Later Thursday, Iran's state-run media claimed that a "foreign" vessel had "intended to approach the naval drill" and departed soon after the Iranian Navy's warning, without elaborating.

The two-day drill began on Wednesday with the unveiling of the largest vessel in the Iranian Navy, the latest in a series of Iranian military exercises during the waning days of the administration of US President Donald Trump. Over the weekend, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held a naval parade in the Persian Gulf shortly after seizing a South Korean tanker in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Last week, Iran deployed unmanned aircraft to stage a large-scale drone maneuver across half the country.

Iran's state TV broadcast footage of the missile launches on Thursday but didn't provide their range or other details. In July, Iran said it test-fired cruise missiles with a range of some 280 kilometers (some 275 miles).

"Enemies should know that any violation and invasion of Iranian marine borders will be targeted by the cruise missiles from both coast and sea," said Adm. Hamzeh Ali Kaviani, the spokesman for Thursdays' exercise.

Tensions are rising as Iran ramps up pressure on the West over the Trump administration's sanctions campaign against the Islamic republic.

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"We have a lot of things going with Iran," Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a campaign event in Florida. "We'll see what happens. Let me just say this: We are very prepared."

Trump's comments came just hours after he announced the sudden departure of acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan, jolting the Defense Department only a day after he signed off on sending an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East to counter Iran.

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In announcing the new deployment before he resigned, Shanahan said the forces are "for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats" in the Mideast.

"The United States does not seek conflict with Iran," Shanahan said, describing the move as intended "to ensure the safety and welfare of our military personnel working throughout the region and to protect our national interests." He said the US will continue to adjust troop levels as needed.

Shanahan abruptly stepped down Tuesday before his formal nomination ever went to the Senate, citing a "painful" family situation. Trump said Army Secretary Mark Esper would be the new acting Pentagon chief.

On a visit Tuesday to US Central Command in Florida, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was confident the US is taking the necessary steps to confront any challenge from Iran. He said the military is ready to respond to any attack by Iran on US interests or Iranian disruption of international shipping lanes through which much of the world's oil supplies flow.

Pompeo said Trump only wants to re-establish a deterrent to Iranian threats.

"President Trump does not want war and we will continue to communicate that message while doing the things that are necessary to protect American interests in the region," he told reporters.

"Now we need to make sure that we continue to do that so that we ultimately get the opportunity to convince Iran that it's not in their best interest to behave this way."

Pompeo said he made the trip to meet with commanders who would be responsible for any operations in the Gulf to ensure that America's diplomatic and military efforts are coordinated "to make sure that we're in the position to do the right thing."

The "right thing," he said, "is to continue to work to convince the Islamic Republic of Iran that we are serious and to deter them from further aggression in the region."

Similarly measured sentiments of resolve came from Iran, where President Hassan Rouhani said, "We do not wage war with any nation," but Iranians will withstand mounting US pressure and prevail in the brinksmanship.

Iran announced on Monday that it could soon start enriching uranium to just a step away from weapons-grade levels, a challenge to Trump's assurances to allies that the US withdrawal from the deal last year made the world safer.

The Pentagon responded by ordering additional troops to the region, including security forces for added surveillance and intelligence-gathering.

The US accuses Iran of attacking two tankers near the Persian Gulf; the Iranians deny responsibility. With details murky and no one owning up to the attacks, the Pentagon released new photos that were intended to bolster its case.

In Congress, some lawmakers expressed worry that the gradual buildup of US troops in the Middle East could become a slippery slope.

"We expect the administration to seek authorization [from Congress] prior to any deployment of forces into hostilities or areas where hostilities with Iran are imminent," said a statement from a bipartisan group of senators led by Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Yet some Republicans argued that rising tensions necessitate a more forceful response from the White House. "You can't have provocative acts by a rogue regime go unanswered," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, adding that he doesn't believe the president would need to come to Congress before striking Iran. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he favored a "retaliatory military strike."

But in an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday, Trump, striking a different tone from Republican lawmakers who have urged a military approach to Iran, said last week's tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman had only a "very minor" impact so far.

Asked if he would consider military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons or to ensure the free flow of oil through the Gulf, Trump said: "I would certainly go over nuclear weapons and I would keep the other a question mark."

The nuclear deal with Iran, which was reached in 2015 during Barack Obama's presidency, aimed to head off any pathway to an Iranian nuclear bomb. Trump says the agreement failed to address Iran's missile program or punish it for waging proxy wars in Middle East countries.

Tehran has decried the toughening of US sanctions and urged other signatories to take action to save the nuclear pact or see Iran turn its back on the deal.

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We must ask, does it make sense that those who saved the sailors from their burning ship are the same people who set it ablaze? The answer, as strange as it sounds, is yes. Similar to a successful pyromaniac who then helps put the fire out. And although Iran isn't the only suspect in the two terrorist attacks in the Gulf of Oman, and in the four previous attacks last month, it is undeniably the prime suspect.

First and foremost, this is due to motive. The noose of sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran is tightening. Iranian oil exports have plummeted from over one million barrels per day to less than 400,000. The Iranian economy is on the verge of collapse, and Tehran has already threatened on multiple occasions that if it can't export oil, "no one can."

Second, Iran is the main suspect because of the objective. Iranian oil tankers weren't hit on Thursday or last month, rather, lo and behold, tankers carrying materials from Saudi Arabia and Gulf emirates. The fact that some of the cargo was being shipped to Japan this time, and that the attack took place while the Japanese prime minister was visiting Tehran, doesn't need to trouble those who gave the order.

Third, we must consider the location. The attacks Thursday and last month were carried out in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. In this maritime zone, near the Iranian coast, Revolutionary Guards naval units maintain a permanent and massive presence, and they can quickly engage and disengage from designated targets.

Finally, the fourth reason we can point to Iran is the message. While the country's spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, told Japan's prime minister on Thursday that he would not negotiate with US President Donald Trump over a new nuclear deal, Iran still hasn't completely shut the door to mediation efforts. Attacks of this sort are meant to prove that Iran isn't weak and vulnerable and that it "must be respected" if it does eventually choose to enter negotiations.

Iran is pushing the limits with the United States but is doing so cautiously. The two oil tanker attacks on Thursday and the four in May are evidence of Iran's considerable effort and quite impressive ability to conduct military operations in the Persian Gulf under the nose of the US Navy – almost completely without leaving a trace. The moment any proof is presented, however, escalation in the Gulf will be unavoidable.

The Iranians, meanwhile, did fail miserably in one aspect on Thursday. Their decision to hamper oil exports from the Persian Gulf was supposed to dramatically increase oil prices, which in turn would somewhat alleviate some of their economic distress. But, contrary to their expectations, the oil market didn't respond hysterically to the attacks and prices only increased marginally. The Saudis have already announced they will sell oil to anyone, and at a reasonable price.

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"That the US immediately jumped to make allegations against Iran–w/o a shred of factual or circumstantial evidence – only makes it abundantly clear that the #B_Team is moving to a #PlanB: Sabotage diplomacy – including by @AbeShinzo – and cover up its #EconomicTerrorism against Iran," Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

Zarif has repeatedly said that Bolton, an ardent Iran hawk, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could goad US President Donald Trump into a conflict with Tehran.

On Thursday, Iran's UN mission said that Tehran categorically rejects the "unfounded" U.S. claim over Thursday's attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, after Washington blamed Tehran for the attacks.

"Iran categorically rejects the US unfounded claim with regard to 13 June oil tanker incidents and condemns it in the strongest possible terms," the Iranian mission said in a statement.

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"We are in charge of maintaining security of the Strait and we rescued the crew of those attacked tankers in the shortest possible time ... US Secretary of State [Mike] Pompeo's accusations towards Iran is alarming," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

The US military released a video late on Thursday that it said showed troops from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps removing an unexploded mine from the side of one of the targeted vessels, the Japanese-owned oil tanker Kokuka Courageous.

The US military's Central Command also released photographs showing the apparent mine, which attaches to the side of a ship magnetically, before it was removed later in the day.

Iran has denied being involved in the attack, calling it an "unfounded claim" in the United States' "Iranophobic campaign."

Meanwhile, the UK said it was working on the basis that Iran is responsible for the attacks, and warned Iran that these actions were "deeply unwise," Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said.

"This is deeply worrying and comes at a time of already huge tension. I have been in contact with Pompeo and, while we will be making our own assessment soberly and carefully, our starting point is obviously to believe our US allies," Hunt said in a statement.

"We are taking this extremely seriously and my message to Iran is that if they have been involved it is a deeply unwise escalation which poses a real danger to the prospects of peace and stability in the region," he added.

Saudi Arabia also agreed with the American assessment that Iran was behind the suspected attacks, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said.

"We have no reason to disagree with the [US] secretary of state. We agree with him," Jubeir told CNN. "Iran has a history of doing this."

Saudi Arabia also said early Friday that its military intercepted five drones launched by Iran-backed Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting the kingdom, including the Abha regional airport. The kingdom said a similar attack Wednesday on the Abha airport wounded 26 people.

The United Arab Emirates' Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash called the alleged attacks in the Gulf of Oman a "major and dangerous escalation" that requires the international community to scramble to protect regional stability and security.

"Wisdom and collective responsibility are needed to prevent more escalation," Gargash said in a Twitter post.

Egypt also condemned any acts that undermine the safety of waterways in the Gulf region, its foreign ministry said, adding that Cairo was "following with concern" the news of the attack.

Qatar called for an international investigation into the suspected attacks.

A foreign ministry statement carried on state news agency QNA condemned what it called acts of destruction "regardless of who is behind them" and warned against tampering with the security of the Gulf and broader region.

It urged all parties to show restraint and stop escalations.

The United Nations warned that the world cannot afford "a major confrontation in the Gulf."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council: "I strongly condemn any attack against civilians. Facts must be established and responsibilities clarified."

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