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Damage to 2 Russian Tankers Causes Black Sea Oil Products Spill

This photo taken from a video released by the Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office, shows a Volgoneft 212 tanker wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP)
This photo taken from a video released by the Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office, shows a Volgoneft 212 tanker wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP)
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Damage to 2 Russian Tankers Causes Black Sea Oil Products Spill

This photo taken from a video released by the Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office, shows a Volgoneft 212 tanker wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP)
This photo taken from a video released by the Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office, shows a Volgoneft 212 tanker wrecked by a storm in the Kerch Strait, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (The Russian Southern Transport Prosecutor's Office via AP)

Damage caused to two Russian tankers in stormy weathers in the Black Sea caused an oil products spill, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) as saying on Sunday.

The two cargo ships were damaged due to bad weather in the Kerch Strait between mainland Russia and annexed Crimea and have requested assistance, Russia's emergency services ministry said on Sunday.

There were 13 people on board the Volgoneft 212 tanker, and 14 people on the second ship, the Volgoneft 239, the ministry said.

The ministry said more than 50 people and equipment including an Mi-8 helicopter and a rescue tugboat had been deployed.

Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that the Volgoneft 212 tanker was carrying about 4,300 tons of fuel oil.

Unverified video posted on Telegram showed some blackened water on stormy seas and a half-submerged tanker.

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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.