Friendly fire missile strike kills 19 sailors, wounds 15

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

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

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

Sunday’s friendly fire incident struck the Iranian navy vessel Konarak near the port of Jask, some 790 miles southeast of Tehran in the Gulf of Oman, the Iranian army said in a statement.

The Konarak, a Hendijanclass 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 placing targets out for other ships to strike, 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 three others with slight wounds, the IRNA state news agency reported.

Iranian vessels towed the Konarak into a naval base after the strike. A photograph released by the Iranian army showed burn marks and damage to the vessel.

The 155foot vessel typically carries a crew of 20 and authorities did not explain why it had 34 people on board. The army identified those slain as officers and enlisted men.

Iran regularly holds exercises in the Gulf of Oman, which is close to the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil trade passes.

Iranian army A photograph from the Iranian army shows burn marks and damage to the Konarak support vessel, which was struck during a training exercise.