Iran blamed for drone attack on oil tanker

Washington says explosive device is same technology that Tehran is supplying to Russia for use in Ukraine

AN OIL tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire was struck by an exploding drone off the coast of Oman yesterday, in an apparent escalation of the ongoing Iran-israel conflict.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the United States last night blamed Iran for the attack.

“Upon review of the available information, we are confident that Iran likely conducted this attack using a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle], a lethal capability it is increasingly employing directly and via its proxies throughout the Middle East and proliferating to Russia for use in Ukraine,” said Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser.

Tehran has previously carried out similar strikes on ships associated with Israel in the Gulf region.

“We are aware of an incident and it’s being investigated at this time,” said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, the Royal Navy agency that monitors ship trade, in a brief statement yesterday.

The tanker is reportedly named the

Pacific Zircon, a Liberian-flagged vessel operated by Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping. The ultimate owner of the company is said to be the Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer.

“We are in communication with the vessel and there are no reports of injuries or pollution,” a spokesman for Eastern Pacific Shipping said. “All crew are safe and accounted for.

“There is some minor damage to the vessel’s hull but no spillage of cargo or water ingress.”

The vessel appears to have been struck shortly after leaving the Omani port of Sohar, though its destination was unclear.

Iran had not addressed reports of the attack as of last night, but Israel accused Tehran of launching the attack in what it described as a “strategic mistake” by the regime.

“This unmanned aerial vehicle attack against a civilian vessel in this critical maritime strait demonstrates, once again, the destabilising nature of Iranian malign activity in the region,” Gen Michael Erik Kurilla, the head of US

Central Command, told The Wall Street Journal. Israel and Iran have for several years been locked in a so-called shadow war in which they attack each others’ ships and infrastructure.

Tensions between the West and Tehran have also soared over Iran’s military support for Russian forces against Ukraine and the collapse of talks on restoring the Obama-era nuclear deal.

Last July, an Iranian suicide drone attacked the Mercer Street vessel as it sailed to the United Arab Emirates, killing a British sailor and a Romanian captain on board.

Oil prices slightly rose in response to the attack, with Brent crude trading above 94 per cent (£79) per barrel.

“The drone attack against an oil tanker off the coast of Oman does not come as a surprise,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the security consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft.

“The risk of attacks against shipping and energy infrastructure in the wider region is rising mainly due to the lack of progress in Us-iranian nuclear diplomacy and the decision by Washington to apply further sanctions pressure on Iran,” he added.

“There is not just an increasing risk of disruptive attacks against energy infrastructure in the region, but also a growing risk of a wider military confrontation with more serious consequences for world energy markets.”

‘There is an increasing risk of energy attacks in the region and of a wider, more serious military conflict’