One Indian sailor was killed and eight others wounded when Iranian cruise missiles struck two UAE oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the UAE Ministry of Defence confirmed.
The UAE Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah were targeted in the southern shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz within Omani territorial waters. The Indian crew member killed was aboard the Mombasa while six of the eight wounded were Indian nationals and two were Ukrainian. Four of the wounded were seriously injured.
The ministry stated that fires broke out on both tankers after the attack but were brought under control. It condemned the strikes as a blatant violation of international law and said the UAE reserves the right to respond.
Iran claimed its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had fired warning shots at vessels allegedly transiting unlawfully. The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency separately reported a tanker hit by an unidentified projectile northeast of Oman’s Qalhat.
