Two fishing boats targeted in drone attack off Iran’s southern coast, fishermen go missing: Report

Tehran: Two fishing boats were targeted in a drone attack off Iran’s southern coast on Monday night, leaving a number of fishermen missing, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The attack was carried out off the coast of the southern port city of Kargan and near Larak Island, Mehr cited Ahmad Nafisi, Hormozgan province’s deputy governor for political and security affairs, as saying.

Search and rescue operations have been launched to find the fishermen, Nafisi added, noting that further details of the incident will be announced after investigation, reports Xinhua news agency, quoting Mehr.

Earlier, the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that a super oil tanker seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz via the “forbidden” route south of the waterway exploded and caught fire after hitting naval mines.

In a statement on the IRGC’s official news outlet, Sepah News, the navy said efforts to contain the fire on the tanker, identified as “EL GAIA,” were futile, and the entire vessel was engulfed in flames.

It added that warnings had been issued about the risks of using the “illegal” route in the strategic waterway, stressing that the strait remains closed and under the control of Iran’s naval forces.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), the body responsible for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, warned insurance companies and classification societies against providing services to ships on its updated list of “violating” vessels.

In a post on its account on social media platform X, the PGSA said that insurance companies, protection and indemnity insurance (P&I) clubs, and classification societies “are warned to refrain from providing services to these vessels to avoid consequences arising from dealing with them.”

IANS