Strike Sets UAE Tanker Ablaze Near Hormuz As IRGC Warns U.S.

Illustrative image. (Tasnim News Agency)

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said on August 8 that one of its vessels was targeted by a missile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The incident occurred during the early hours of Saturday, the United Arab Emirates’ official WAM news agency reported, citing a statement from the company.

Earlier, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that a vessel believed to be an oil tanker caught fire in the southern corridor of the Strait of Hormuz. Citing satellite data from NASA FIRMS system, the agency reported that the vessel was ablaze and that an oil-spill response and firefighting vessel, the ADNOC AR01, had arrived at the scene.

The UAE strongly condemned the attack on the vessel, holding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responsible.

In a statement, the Emirati Foreign Ministry said the attack constituted a flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817, which affirms freedom of navigation and rejects attacks on commercial shipping or any disruption to international maritime routes.

The ministry stressed that targeting commercial vessels and using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage or for economic coercion amounts to “acts of piracy” by the IRGC, posing a direct threat to regional stability, the safety of its populations, and global energy security.

It further called on the Islamic Republic to immediately halt these hostile attacks, cease all acts of aggression, and reopen the Strait of Hormuz unconditionally to safeguard regional security and ensure the stability of the global economy and international trade.

The attack on the ADNOC vessel indicates that the Islamic Republic is keeping its finger on the trigger, despite recent reports of a near-deal with the United States and Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the day, an IRGC spokesperson cautioned that reopening the waterway is unrelated to Iran-Oman negotiations and is instead conditional on the U.S. accepting Iran’s terms.

“The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is subject to the specific mechanisms and conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is unrelated to the negotiations between Iran and Oman,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Guard spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi as saying.

A U.S. official had reported progress between Iran and Oman a day earlier that could soon reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for around 20 percent of global oil and gas shipments.

Prior to that, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tehran and Muscat were putting the final touches on arrangements to jointly manage the waterway. Officials from the Islamic Republic noted, however, that any reopening of the strait would depend on the U.S. ending restrictions on Iranian shipping.

Iran maintains tight control over the Strait of Hormuz. The upcoming deal with Oman is intended as a temporary solution, and major differences clearly remain between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. Even if the waterway reopens, the situation is likely to remain tense, with skirmishes expected to continue.

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