Iran says missile kills 19 sailors in training accident

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A missile fired during an Iranian military training exercise mistakenly struck a naval vessel instead of its intended target in waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, killing 19 sailors and wounding 15 others, Iranian authorities said Monday.

The bungled training exercises took place Sunday and raised new questions about the readiness of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces amid heightened tensions with U.S., just months after they accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran, killing 176 passengers.

It also comes soon after a tense naval encounter between Iranian and U.S. forces in the nearby Persian Gulf.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers two years ago, launching a maximum pressure campaign against Iran that has pushed the archrivals to the verge of conflict repeatedly.

Analysts have warned regional tensions likely will increase again. This week also marks the anniversary of attacks on oil tankers near the strait that the U.S. blamed on Iran.

In Sunday’s friendly fire incident, a missile struck the Iranian navy vessel Konarak near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran in the

Gulf of Oman, the Iranian army said in a statement. Iran’s regular navy typically patrols those waters, while vessels from the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard usually patrol the Persian Gulf.

The Konarak, a Hendijan- class support ship taking part in the exercise, came too close to a target and the missile struck it, state TV said. Authorities did not identify the ship that fired the missile, though semiofficial media in Iran identified it as the Iranian destroyer Jamaran.

The Konarak had been putting targets out for other ships to attack, state TV said.

Initially, officials said only one sailor had been killed. That number quickly changed to 19. A hospital admitted 12 sailors and treated another three with slight wounds, the staterun IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian vessels towed the Konarak to its nearby namesake port of Konarak in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province after the strike, satellite photos released by Maxar Technologies showed. The vessel appeared heavily damaged in the images.

The boat typically carried a crew of 20. Authorities did not explain why it had 34 people aboard when the missile struck. The army identified those slain as officers and enlisted men, including a combat diver.