Iraqi Bomb Squad detonates the mine was attached to the hull

Shafaq News / A security source said, on Monday, that the Bomb squad officers detonated, without causing any casualties.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that the Bomb squad forces detonated the mine in a safe place within Iraqi territorial waters.

Earlier, A security source told Shafaq News Agency that the team removed the attached mine from the Iraqi oil tanker located off the Iraqi coast.

For its part, the Security Media Cell opened an investigation in the relation to the attached mine.

On Friday, the Iraqi oil tanker had been unloaded on fears of any explosion

The tanker was in international waters about 28 nautical miles (52 km) off Iraq’s coast in the Persian Gulf and supplying another ship with fuel when the device was discovered on Thursday afternoon, the military said in its statement.

The Persian Gulf and Red Sea have been a hotbed for attacks on vessels in recent years, with tensions flaring between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In December, an explosion that Saudi officials described as a “terrorist” attack rocked a ship in the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea. That incident occurred just weeks after an oil tanker was damaged in a possible attack in the same body of water.

At the same time, there is heightened focus on security in the region -- particularly with Iran, which is subject to U.S. sanctions -- as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to succeed Donald Trump later this month. Almost exactly a year ago, Trump ordered a drone strike in Iraq that killed one of Iran’s most powerful generals.