Missile Hits Iranian Warship In The Gulf, Killing 19

A tragic missile accident involving an Iranian warship has happened in the already tense Gulf, killing 19 persons.

Agency reports quoting state media said Iran’s warship was hit by what it described as a friendly fire missile during naval exercises, killing 19 sailors.

The Gulf states have been at loggerheads with the West, especially the United States of America (USA) over a range of issues in the region, but the authorities quickly doused any look in the direction of Washington by informing that the accident was a friendly fire.

The incident involved a Konarak vessel yesterday afternoon near Bandar-e Jask, off the southern coast of the Islamic republic, state television said on its website.

“The vessel was hit after moving a practice target to its destination and not creating enough distance between itself and the target,” said the channel.

Iran’s armed forces said in a statement that 19 crewmen on the warship were killed and 15 injured.

 It said the Konarak had been involved in an “accident” during the exercises, without elaborating.

 The vessel had been towed ashore for “technical investigations”, it added, calling on people to “avoid speculation” until further information is released.

Tasnim news agency said in an English-language tweet that the Konarak was hit by the missile fired by another Iranian warship.

The vessel had been hit by “‘friendly fire’ after Moudge-class frigate ‘Jamaran’ accidentally shot (it) with a missile during live firing exercise in Jask area of #PersianGulf waters”.

The 15 injured were hospitalised in Sistan and Baluchistan, said Mohammad-Mehran Aminifard, head of the province’s medical university.

Two of the sailors were in intensive care, he told the semi-official news agency ISNA.

The Konarak is a logistical support vessel made in the Netherlands and purchased by Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Weighing 447 tonnes and 47 metres (154 feet) long, the Hendijan-class vessel is equipped with four cruise missiles, according to state television.

It was not immediately clear how many crew members were on board the warship at the time of the accident.

 Iran and its arch-enemy the United States have traded barbs in the past year over a spate of incidents involving their forces in the sensitive Gulf waters.

Their latest high-seas confrontation came on April 15, when the United States claimed Iranian boats had “harassed” its navy ships in the waterway.

US President Donald Trump then tweeted that he had ordered the US Navy to “shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea”.

Tensions have escalated since 2018 when Trump withdrew the United States from a multinational accord that froze Iran’s nuclear programme and reimposed crippling sanctions on its economy.

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Iran’s armed forces in January mistakenly shot down a Kiev-bound Boeing 737 passenger jet shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard.

The military admitted to the catastrophic error, saying it came as Iran’s air defences were on high alert after firing a barrage of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq.

 Iran launched the missiles in retaliation for the United States’ killing of its top general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike days before that.