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The Iranian army announced Monday that 19 people died on board a naval vessel that was hit by a missile attack during exercises in the Gulf of Oman.
“On Sunday afternoon, during training conducted by various naval ships in the Jask and Chabahar waters, the Konarac light support ship was involved,” the statement said on the army website. The statement confirmed that the accident killed 19 people and injured 15 others.
For their part, the Iranian media reported that the friendly fire incident took place on Sunday near the port of Jask, 1270 kilometers southeast of Tehran in the Gulf of Oman, and that the destroyer (Jamaran) hit the support ship ( Konarak) with a C-802 missile.
She described the crash as an accident, saying that Kanark was very close to the target, confirming that the destroyer missile was heading toward other targets in the water.
It should be noted that the Konarac, manufactured in the Netherlands, is 47 meters long and has a capacity of 40 tons, entered service in 2018, was repaired in 2018, and was capable of launching naval and anti-ship missiles, generally with a crew of 20 sailors.
Iran regularly conducts training in the region, and is closed in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the strategic corridor in the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.
The incident comes amid months of mounting tensions between Iran and the United States since President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in 2018, and severe sanctions were imposed on the country.
In light of the mutual threats between Tehran and Washington, a spokesman for the Iranian army announced in late April that the United States should be wary of any aggression in the Persian Gulf, in response to Trump by targeting Iranian ships harassing U.S. ships in the Gulf.
This serious mistake in launching the missiles comes months after Iranian Revolutionary Guards accidentally attacked a Ukrainian passenger plane in early January, killing all 176 passengers on a plane.
