Iranian Warship Attacks Gulf Oil Rig

In the first such incident in decades, an Iranian warship has attacked a European-operated oil rig in the Gulf. Romania said the Iranian Navy attacked an oil rig operated by a Romanian company off the coast of Iran on Tuesday. The rig, located near Kish island and involved in an Iranian court case in 2006, was captured and at least 20 Romanians were detained. Sergiu Medar, a national security adviser to Romanian President Traian Basescu, said Iran's action stemmed from a commercial dispute. Medar did not elaborate, but officials said the Foreign Ministry planned to send a team to the rig, operated by Oil Services Group in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates. Iran and the UAE have a territorial waters dispute. ‘We are dealing with a commercial dispute that is being treated in an extreme way by the Iranian authorities,’ Medar said.