IT BEGINS: United Arab Emirates says Iran blew up their oil tankers.

The United Arab Emirates has said that four commercial ships were hit by “sabotage” in its waters, hours after denying reports of explosions at an oil tanker terminal. The incident comes as US/Iran tension ratchets up.

The four vessels were targeted by “sabotage operations” in waters near the emirate of Fujairah, the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday. The exact nature of the sabotage was not revealed, nor were the nationalities of the ships. There were no reported casualties.

“Subjecting commercial vessels to sabotage operations and threatening the lives of their crew is considered a dangerous development,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it is investigating the alleged incident.