Qatar has condemned an Iranian attack on one of its liquefied natural gas tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, after the vessel was hit by a projectile and caught fire. The strike was the latest on shipping through the Gulf’s critical waterway, and two other vessels were hit in separate attacks the same day.
Qatar blamed Iran on Tuesday after a projectile struck one of its liquefied natural gas tankers near the Strait of Hormuz and set the vessel on fire. The early-morning strike was the latest to target a ship moving through the Gulf’s most important shipping lane.
Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari named the vessel the Al Rekayyat and held Tehran responsible in a statement on X. According to Al Jazeera, he wrote on X: “We hold Iran fully legally responsible for this assault and any resulting damages or consequences.”
Three ships hit in a single day
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said the tanker was hit near Limah, Oman, inside the strait. The projectile struck the port side as the ship tried to travel south out of the strait toward the Gulf of Oman. The agency reported no casualties or environmental damage and said authorities were investigating.
UKMTO later said two other ships had been hit on Tuesday in separate attacks. One was struck by a drone and sustained minor structural damage, while the other, hit by an unidentified projectile, was believed to have sustained structural damage. Nobody was wounded in either case.
Iran points to mine-clearing
Iranian state television said the tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings, but Tehran did not directly claim the strike. A fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed through the waterway before the US-Israel war on Iran began in late February.
Tehran-based analyst Hossein Royvaran told Al Jazeera the Qatari tanker may have been targeted because it strayed into an area where Iranian teams were clearing mines. Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait is safe, and it is suspected of attacking other ships that used a route closer to the Omani shore.
Talks between Iran and the United States on a permanent end to the war appear on hold until after the burial of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war on February 28.
Source: Al Jazeera
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
