The accident happened on Sunday close to the port of Jask in the Gulf of Oman, some 790 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, Iranian state television channel IRNA explained. The Iranian navy released a statement Monday noting that the incident left at least 19 sailors dead and another 15 wounded.
The accident occurred when a support ship—the Konarak, a Hendijan-class fast-attack vessel—was putting out targets in the water for other ships to fire at. However, one of the other warships taking part accidentally fired a missile, hitting the Konarak.
Anonymous sources with knowledge of the incident told The New York Times that the Konarak was sunk by the missile, which they said was fired by the Jamaran Moudge-class frigate. The Times reported that at least 20 people were killed in the incident.
It is not yet clear whether the missile was launched due to technical or human error, but the Iranian armed forces said an investigation is underway.
Seyed Mohamad Razavi, a senior adviser to conservative politicians including the incoming speaker of the Iranian parliament, tweeted: “This accident is very sad for all of us.”
The accident comes amid recently heightened tensions in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, which joins the former via the Strait of Hormuz from the northwest. Some 30 percent of the world’s oil transits the strait, which is the narrowest point of the Persian Gulf.
The waterway separates Iran from the Gulf monarchies including Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s long-time rival and fellow regional superpower.
The Persian Gulf has been the center of Iranian-U.S. tensions since President Donald Trump took office and pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal, pivoting to a “maximum pressure” approach in an effort to throttle the Iranian economy and undermine the theocratic regime.
Last month, Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian vessels harassing American forces, after several Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps craft intercepted U.S. warships. The head of the IRGC issued a retaliatory threat vowing to destroy any U.S. “terrorist” forces in the area deemed a threat.
At the start of the year, Washington, D.C. and Tehran slid to the edge of open conflict after a series of tit-for-tat actions that culminated in the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani—the commander of Iran’s clandestine Quds Force and widely considered the second most powerful figure within the regime.
Iran retaliated with ballistic missile attacks on two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops, injuring more than 100 service members. Hours later, Iranian forces accidentally shot down a passenger plane outside Tehran.
Air defense units had been placed on high alert in anticipation of American retaliation, but misidentified the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 and shot it down, killing all 176 people aboard.
The incident prompted angry demonstrations across the country and exacerbated popular discontent with the regime, which had already violently suppressed mass protests against the government at the end of 2019.
