Oil tanker hit by bomb-carrying drone off Oman

DUBAI: An oil tanker associated with an Israeli billionaire has been struck by a bomb-carrying drone off the coast of Oman amid heightened tensions with Iran.

The attack happened on Tuesday night off the coast of Oman, the Mideast-based defence official said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military organisation in the region monitoring shipping, said: “We are aware of an incident and it’s being investigated at this time.”

The official identified the vessel attacked as the Liberian-flagged oil tanker Pacific Zircon. That tanker is operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping, which is a company ultimately owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

A phone number for Eastern Pacific rang unanswered yesterday and multiple emails were not immediately acknowledged. A call to the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi similarly rang unanswered.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion immediately fell on Iran. Teheran and Israel have been engaged in a years-long shadow war in the wider Middle East, with some drone attacks targeting Israeli-associated vessels traveling around the region.

The US also blamed Iran for a series of attacks occurring off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

Teheran then had begun escalating its nuclear programme following the US’ unilateral withdraw from its atomic deal with world powers.

In 2021, a suspected Iranian drone strike hit the Israeli-associated oil tanker Mercer Street off Oman, killing two onboard.

Since the collapse of Iran’s nuclear deal, nonproliferation experts warn the Islamic Republic now has enough enriched uranium to make at least one nuclear weapon if it chose, though Teheran insists its program is peaceful.