Iran naval 'friendly fire' incident kills 19 sailors in Gulf of Oman
Nineteen sailors have been killed
and 15 others injured in an accident involving Iranian naval vessels in
the Gulf of Oman, Iran's navy has said.
Iranian media reported
that the support ship Konarak was hit by a new anti-ship missile being
tested by the frigate Jamaran during an exercise on Sunday.The Konarak had been putting targets out in the water and remained too close to one, according to the reports.
The navy said the ship was towed ashore and that an investigation had begun.
The incident took place near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategically important waterway through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes.
"On Sunday evening... during naval exercises performed by a number of the naval force's vessels in the waters of Jask and Chabahar, an accident happened involving the Konarak light support ship vessel, causing the martyrdom of a number of brave members of the naval forces," the navy said in a statement on Monday.
The statement added that the Konarak had been taken to a port for "technical inspection", but it made no reference to the circumstances of the accident.
Iranian media earlier reported the Konarak had been accidentally struck by an anti-ship missile fired by the Jamaran during an exercise near the port of Jask.
"The vessel was hit after moving a practice target to its destination and not creating enough distance between itself and the target," state television said on its website.
The Tasnim news agency tweeted in English that the Konarak was sunk in the incident. It subsequently reported that the vessel was heavily damaged.
It was not clear how many sailors were on board at the time.
The Konarak is a 47m (154ft) long Hendijan-class logistical support vessel that was made in the Netherlands and bought by Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution
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