Moscow, May 31 (RHC)-- Russia says it does not trust claims by U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton that Iran was engaged in recent “sabotage” attacks targeting vessels off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

On Wednesday, Bolton alleged that the May 12 incident involving four commercial vessels near the port of Fujairah had been caused by Iranian naval mines, without providing any evidence to substantiate his claim. “I think it is clear these (tanker attacks) were naval mines almost certainly from Iran,” claimed the American official, speaking at a press conference in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov fundamentally questioned the remarks in an interview with Sputnik, which the Russian news agency published on Thursday.

The Russian official also warned that such unfounded statements served to escalate standing tensions. "Such policies are especially dangerous in the Middle East.”

“This is why we will continue calmly making effort to ensure that common sense eventually prevails,” he noted, and advised adoption of “a more sensible approach” where “responsible officials engage in diplomacy rather than propaganda."

Later on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected Bolton’s claim as "ridiculous."  Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Moussavi said Bolton and “other warmongers” had to know that the Islamic Republic would patiently and vigilantly work to prevent them from fulfilling “their ominous schemes to create chaos in the region."

Iran strongly dismisses latest allegations by hawkish US National Security Adviser John Bolton, saying attacks on commercial vessels off the UAE coast were caused by Iranian naval mines.